Briarlight's Vision
by Stormwhisker12
Summary: Guys, I've re-read my story, and it seems the real chapter 8 is missing... hmmm. I don't know where it went, but... SORRY! Maybe I accidently deleted it somehow or something...
1. Prologue and Allegiances

ALLEGIANCES

**THUNDERCLAN**

LEADER: **BRAMBLESTAR- **dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

**APPRENTICE- **Amberpaw

DEPUTY: **SQUIRRELFLIGHT- **dark ginger she-cat with green eyes

MEDICINE CAT: **JAYFEATHER- **gray tabby tom with blind blue eyes

WARRIORS: (toms, and she-cats without kits)

**BRACKENFUR- **golden brown tabby tom

**CLOUDTAIL- **long-haired white tom with blue eyes

**BRIGHTHEART- **white she-cat with ginger patches

**THORNCLAW- **golden brown tabby tom

**SORRELTAIL- **tortoiseshell and white she-cat with amber eyes

**LEAFPOOL- **light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes

**SPIDERLEG- **long-limbed black tom with a brown underbelly and amber eyes

**WHITEWING- **white she-cat with green eyes

**BIRCHFALL- **light brown tabby tom

**APPRENTICE- **Dewpaw

**BERRYNOSE- **cream-furred tom

**HAZELTAIL- **small gray and white she-cat

**MOUSEWHISKER- **gray and white tom

**POPPYFROST- **tortoiseshell she-cat

**LIONBLAZE- **golden tabby tom with amber eyes

**FOXLEAP- **reddish tabby tom

**ICECLOUD- **white she-cat

**TOADSTEP- **black and white tom

**ROSEPETAL- **dark cream she-cat

**BRIARLIGHT- **dark brown she-cat with green eyes

**BUMBLESTRIPE- **very pale gray tom with thick black stripes

**APPRENTICE- **Snowpaw

**DOVEWING- **pale gray she-cat with blue eyes

**IVYPOOL- **white and silver tabby she-cat with dark blue eyes

**CHERRYLEAF- **ginger she-cat

**MOLETUFT- **cream and brown tom

**LILYDUST- **dark brown tabby she-cat with white patches and green eyes

**SEEDBRIAR- **very pale ginger she-cat with amber eyes

APPRENTICES: (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)

**AMBERPAW- **pale gray she-cat

**DEWPAW- **gray tom

**SNOWPAW- **white tom

QUEENS: (she-cats nursing or expecting kits)

**DAISY- **long-furred cream she-cat. Mother of Spiderleg's kits: Sunkit (cream and white she-cat), and Shadowkit (black tom).

**CINDERHEART- **gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes. Mother of Lionblaze's kits: Rainkit (pale gray she-cat), Stormkit (light brown tabby tom), and Tigerkit (dark brown tabby tom)

**BLOSSOMFALL- **tortoiseshell and white she-cat. Expecting Toadstep's kits.

ELDERS: (warriors and queens, now retired)

**GRAYSTRIPE- **long-haired gray tom

**DUSTPELT- **dark brown tabby tom

**SANDSTORM- **pale ginger she-cat with green eyes

**SHADOWCLAN**

LEADER: **BLACKSTAR- **old white tom with huge black paws

DEPUTY: **ROWANCLAW- **ginger tom

MEDICINE CAT: **LITTLECLOUD- **very small tabby tom

**APPRENTICE- **Mistcloud (pale gray she-cat with spiky fur)

WARRIORS: (toms, and she-cats without kits)

**TOADFOOT- **dark brown tom

**APPRENTICE- **Redpaw (dark ginger she-cat)

**APPLEFUR- **mottled brown she-cat

**APPRENTICE- **Acornpaw (light brown tom)

**CROWFROST- **black and white tom

**RATSCAR- **brown tom with a long scar on his back

**SNOWBIRD- **pure white she-cat

**TAWNYPELT- **tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

**OLIVENOSE- **tortoiseshell she-cat

**OWLCLAW- **light brown tabby tom

**SHREWFOOT- **gray she-cat with black paws

**APPRENTICE- **Adderpaw (mottled black tom)

**SCORCHFUR- **dark gray tom

**TIGERHEART- **dark brown tabby tom

**APPRENTICE- **Larkpaw (black and white she-cat)

**DAWNPELT- **cream-furred she-cat

**PINENOSE- **black she-cat

**FERRETCLAW- **cream and gray tom

**STARLINGWING- **ginger tom

**STOATFROST- **ginger tom

**SPARROWSHADE- **large tabby tom

**DEWFERN- **gray she-cat

QUEENS: (she-cats nursing or expecting kits)

**KINKFUR- **tabby she-cat with fur that sticks out at all angles. Mother of Crowfrost's kit: Greenkit (gray and white tom)

**IVYTAIL- **black, white, and tortoiseshell she-cat. Expecting Owlclaw's kits.

ELDERS: (warriors and queens, now retired)

**CEDARHEART- **dark gray tom; the oldest cat in all of the Clans

**TALLPOPPY-** long-legged light brown tabby she-cat

**SMOKEFOOT- **black tom

**WINDCLAN**

LEADER: **ONESTAR- **brown tabby tom

DEPUTY: **ASHFOOT- **gray she-cat

MEDICINE CAT: **KESTRELFLIGHT- **mottled gray tom

**APPRENTICE- **Blackpaw (black she-cat)

WARRIORS: (toms, and she-cats without kits)

**CROWFEATHER- **dark gray tom

**OWLWHISKER- **light brown tabby tom

**WHITETAIL- **small white she-cat

**APPRENTICE- **Icepaw (pale gray she-cat)

**NIGHTCLOUD- **black she-cat

**GORSETAIL- **very pale gray and white tom with blue eyes

**WEASELFUR- **ginger tom with white paws

**APPRENTICE- **Bluepaw (grayish blue tom)

**HARESPRING- **brown and white tom

**APPRENTICE- **Ravenpaw (dark gray tabby tom)

**LEAFTAIL- **dark tabby tom with amber eyes

**EMBERFOOT- **gray tom with two dark paws

**HEATHERTAIL- **light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes

**BREEZEPELT- **black tom with amber eyes

**SEDGEWHISKER- **light brown tabby she-cat

**SUNSTRIKE- **tortoiseshell she-cat with a large white mark on her forehead

**WHISKERNOSE- **light brown tom

**FURZEPELT- **gray and white she-cat

**BOULDERFUR-** large pale gray tom

**CROUCHFOOT- **black tom

**LARKTAIL- **gray she-cat

QUEENS: (she-cats nursing or expecting kits)

**SWALLOWTAIL- **dark gray she-cat. Expecting Emberfoot's kits.

**RIVERCLAN**

LEADER: **MISTYSTAR- **gray she-cat with blue eyes

DEPUTY: **REEDWHISKER- **black tom

MEDICINE CAT: **WILLOWSHINE- **gray tabby she-cat

WARRIORS: (toms, and she-cats without kits)

**MINTFUR- **light gray tabby tom

**ICEWING- **white she-cat with blue eyes.

**APPRENTICE- **Oakpaw (dark brown tom)

**MINNOWTAIL- **dark gray she-cat

**APPRENTICE- **Silverpaw (white she-cat)

**PEBBLEFOOT- **mottled gray tom

**MALLOWNOSE- **light brown tabby tom

**ROBINWING- **tortoiseshell and white tom

**APPRENTICE- **Lakepaw (pale gray she-cat)

**PETALFUR- **gray and white she-cat

**GRASSPELT- **light brown tom

**TROUTSTREAM- **pale gray tabby she-cat

**HOLLOWFLIGHT- **dark brown tabby tom

**MOSSYFOOT- **brown and white she-cat

**RUSHTAIL- **light brown tabby tom

**HERONCLAW- **ginger and white tom

**SHIMMERTAIL- **mottled pale ginger she-cat

QUEENS: (she-cats nursing or expecting kits)

**DUSKFUR- **brown tabby she-cat. Mother of Robinwing's kits: Hailkit (black she-cat), and Fernkit (tortoiseshell she-cat)

**GRAYMIST- **pale gray tabby she-cat. Expecting Mintfur's kits.

ELDERS: (warriors and queens, now retired)

**DAPPLENOSE- **mottled gray she-cat

**POUNCETAIL- **ginger and white tom

**CATS OUTSIDE THE CLANS**

**SMOKY- **muscular gray and white tom who lives at the horseplace

**FLOSS- **gray and white she-cat who lives at the horseplace

**ROXY- **reddish tabby she-cat. Mother of Ravenpaw's kits: Felix (sleek black tom), and Harry (light brown tom)

**RAVENPAW- **black tom with a white chest patch and green eyes.

**DARK- **dark brown tom with yellow eyes. Leader of the rogues

**BLUE- **blueish gray tom with dark blue eyes. Deputy of the rogues

**WHISPER- **pretty white she-cat with pale green eyes. Queen of the rogues.

**FOX- **brown and white tabby tom with amber eyes. Battle planner and consultant of the rogues

**WOLF- **black tom with pale yellow eyes.

**SHADOW- **black tabby tom with blue eyes.

**NIGHT- **dark gray she-cat with amber eyes.

**MOON- **gray tabby and white tom with green eyes.

**MUD- **brown tabby and dark brown tabby tom with green eyes.

**SLASH- **dark ginger tom with amber eyes.

**PROLOGUE**

"No! You'll never harm my kit..." the cry of help was abruptly cut off. Silence filled the forest.

A dark brown tom-cat glared down at the she-cat he had just murdered. He lowered his blood-stained claw to the ground. A sleek-pelted black tom with a white patch on his chest took a step back in alarm. "N-no.. what have you done?!" His green eyes flashed angrily at the murderer of his beloved mate. The tom peered at the black cat through the corners of his eyes.

He flicked his tail at the blueish gray tom standing beside the black cat, signaling to guard him.

The gray tom hissed, and stepped in front of him, blocking him from the cooling body of his mate. The dark brown tom laughed sarcastically. "Oh Ravenpaw, now you've seen what happens when you enter _our _territory," he circled Ravenpaw's helpless, wailing kits, who were sitting just to the right of him. "Your mate was a gentle, caring, and beautiful she-cat. One that would've made your kits strong fighters one day. That's why I've decided to kill her. These two kits," he flicked his tail at the two tiny kits, mewling for their mother, but too small to find her on their own.

"Will be next!"

Ravenpaw jumped around the gray tom guarding him, and spat angrily," You won't lay a claw on my kits!" The grayish blue tom meowed to the dark brown cat," Should we let him off this time, Dark?"

Dark's dark brown pelt glowed silver in the moonlight shining through the nearly dead trees. Crickets chirped around the small clearing that the cats were in. "I suppose, Blue," he directed his amber eyes back on Ravenpaw. "But be warned. If you ever set a single paw on our territory, we'll track you down and kill you!"

Blue and Dark watched as Ravenpaw struggled to pick up both of his kits. He glanced back at the two cats one last time, and then pelted off into the jet-black forest. Once Ravenpaw disappeared into the darkness of night, Blue meowed to his leader," what are you going to do, Dark?"

Dark blinked at where Ravenpaw had disappeared to, and then turned his head around to look at his deputy. "He can't run far with those pitiful lumps of fur. I'm going to find him. You and the rest of the group are coming with me,"

Blue's dark blue eyes reflected in the moonlight. He nodded, understanding.

Dark looked back at where Ravenpaw vanished into, and meowed,"We're going to kill him."


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1:**

"Toadstep! Toadstep, come on!"

Briarlight was awoken by the yelping of her sister's voice. _Must just be Blossomfall again, making Toadstep get up early so they can go on a hunting patrol together, _Briarlight thought, annoyed but happy that her sister had found a mate, and one as perfect for her as Toadstep.

Blossomfall was already expecting Toadstep's kits, even though that she'd only been expecting for a half moon. Briarlight reminded herself to keep an eye on her, so when the kits did come, she and Jayfeather could come quickly, and make sure that her sister's birth went smoothly.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. You have to stop jumping around, Blossomfall!"

There was a pause, and Briarlight's ear twitched. "Why?" Blossomfall's voice sounded sly and curious. "Because you are expecting our kits! I don't want them or you to get hurt," he meowed softly, barely loud enough for Briarlight to pick up.

"Oh, when did you become such a worry-wart? I have enough time until the kits come. Lets go on the dawn patrol together!"

Then Briarlight couldn't pick out Toadstep's or Blossomfall's voice among her other Clanmates coming from the warriors den, ready for Squirrelflight, the deputy, to assign them to patrols.

Briarlight sighed, and pulled herself up and out of her nest. _I'd better go get some fresh-kill for Jayfeather, or he'll be even more grumpy than any usual day, _Briarlight thought happily.

Jayfeather was the medicine cat. He was very skilled, and ever since Briarlight had gotten her back legs crushed by a tree that fell into the camp and paralyzed them forever, she had been his assistant.

He was blind, which meant that every cat took pity on him. He was always grumpy and defensive, so no one felt bad for him just because of his disibility.

He had taught Briarlight how to keep up on exercise's so that she wouldn't end up like Wildfur, a ShadowClan cat that the ShadowClan medicine cat, Littlecloud, had treated. Wildfur had the same problem she had, a broken backbone. Unfortunetly, Littlecloud didn't know that Wildfur was becoming sick, because he was unhealthy and hadn't gotten up to do anything for nearly a moon.

Wildfur died.

Briarlight and her mother, Millie, were horrified. Briarlight had told Jayfeather, and still believed, that she would not end up in StarClan moons before she was supposed to.

Jayfeather was nice to Briarlight, and she even liked him a little bit.

_But he's a medicine cat, and I guess I'm kind of like a medicine cat too. We can't be together, never ever. _

Briarlight dragged herself around the bramble screen, and out into the clearing, leaving the medicine den behind her.

The fresh-kill pile was nearly empty, only two pieces of prey remained from the night before, a mouse and a very thin thrush. _Leaf-bare is coming, and prey is going to get harder and harder to find. I wish I could be of more use to the Clan! It's not fair to the warriors that I get to sit around and eat their caught prey, while they work their tails off to find it!_

Briarlight watched Squirrelflight, as she stood proudly on the elders sunning rock, which is where she organized the patrols. She picked out Blossomfall and Toadstep, right underneath the rock, looking up at the deputy with pleading eyes.

"Alright, who would like to lead the dawn patrol?"

The question had barely left Squirrelflight's mouth as Birchfall shouted," I will!"

Squirrelflight nodded at the light brown tabby tom, and then added quickly," Who wants to patrol with him?"

Briarlight was expecting the two loudest voices as they filled the clearing," I will!"

Squirrelflight looked down at Blossomfall. Toadstep meowed next," I'll go with her!" The deputy nodded. Then she looked back at Birchfall, and mewed," Birchfall, I'd like you to take Dewpaw with you."

Birchfall nodded, and Briarlight caught him glancing at the apprentices' den expectantly, as if wishing Dewpaw, his apprentice, would come out quickly.

Briarlight dragged herself to the fresh-kill pile, and saw Rainkit and Stormkit play fighting on the other side of the puny pieces of prey. Rainkit's pale gray pelt stood out against the light brown of Stormkit's.

Briarlight knew that these kits were two out of three of Lionblaze's litter with Cinderheart. They were adorable kits, and Briarlight had often played games with them. Tigerkit, the last kit of Lionblaze and Cinderheart's was more of a loner.

He spent almost all of the time in the Nursery. No cat liked him very much except Cinderheart, who thought Rainkit and Stormkit should be more like Tigerkit.

Briarlight disagreed. All of the kits would be getting apprentice names in three sunrises. _Tigerkit's been spending some time in the medicine den. I've seen him talking to Jayfeather about poppy seeds yesterday! Maybe he'll become Jayfeather's apprentice. Then what'll happen to me?_

She grabbed the thrush, leaving the mouse and the worry back at the pile of prey. She started dragging herself back to the medicine den, when a cheerful voice from behind froze her half to death.

"Hey Briarlight! Whatcha' got there?"

She turned around to see Foxleap standing right behind her, his green eyes sparkling in delight.

Briarlight had only just started liking Foxleap. Ever since three moons ago when she was gathering horsetail by the lake. She and Jayfeather were picking off stems of the herb, when Jayfeather decided to move along farther toward WindClan territory to gather more. Briarlight was picking off a far out stem, when she fell into the deep blue water. Foxleap was hunting alone when he heard her cry for help. Luckily, he saved her. She'd been shy around him ever since. _Why does he have to talk now?_

She dropped the thrush. "Oh, just some prey for Jayfeather," she meowed, trying to sound casual, but feeling nervous enough to sprout wings and fly away. "You know him! If you don't bring him some prey in the morning, you'll regret it for the rest of the day!"

"Absolutely! Do you want me to help you carry it?," he meowed, taking a step forward and leaning down, ready to grab it.

"Umm, no thanks Foxleap. I've got it," she meowed. He lifted his head and looked quizzically at her, but then nodded. Briarlight knew that he knew how she felt. That every cat in the Clan had to work hard to find prey for someone who didn't give them anything in return.

"That's fine. See you later!" Briarlight flicked her tail at his departing words, and then watched him trot off, his reddish tabby pelt gleaming in the rising sun.

_Why does he have to be so nice to me? I know I'll never have a mate. What tom would ever want a cat like me? I can barely get around by myself!_

She shook the words out of her head, picked up the thrush, and headed back to the medicine den, where Jayfeather would be waiting.

Once she had delivered the thrush to Jayfeather, she started sorting out the herbs once again. Sunkit and Shadowkit, who were Daisy and Spiderleg's newest litter, loved to trample through the den. Briarlight hadn't known why, so she had asked Sunkit once about a half-moon ago.

"I love the smell of poppy seeds!" was her answer. Briarlight had told her that in less she was going to be a medicine cat, then she and Shadowkit should stay out.

They hadn't been in here since, but Briarlight knew that any day now she would come in the den, to find Sunkit and Shadowkit prancing around the herb store.

She picked up a burdock root, remembering that it was good for rat bites. _We sure have plenty of burdock root! And I see a lot of feverfew and lavender also. _Briarlight rummaged around in the herb store, and found two goldenrod stems with crumpled yellow leaves. "Better tell Jayfeather…" "Tell me what?"

Briarlight turned around to see the gray tabby tom standing behind her, his blind blue eyes focused on her, even though he couldn't really see her. "Oh! Jayfeather, I didn't hear you come in. I was just going through the herb store, and I found that we are dangerously low on goldenrod. Would you like me to go and find some?"

Jayfeather's tail swept side to side on the ground impatiently. "Obviously!" he hissed, his eyes locking on her.

"Alright, I'll be back by mid-morning." She meowed, getting up, and dragging past him. _At least he's acting normal. Jayfeather normal. _

As she was just about to go through the entrance of the camp, there was a voice from behind her.

"Briarlight! Where are you going alone?" It was Bramblestar. The massive dark brown tabby padded up to her, with Squirrelflight behind him. They both looked at her expectantly.

"I was going to the WindClan border to find some goldenrod."

Bramblestar blinked, and glanced at Squirrelflight. Her green eyes widened, and she nodded.

"You should take a warrior with you if you're going to another Clan's border," Bramblestar had barely finished his sentence when he was cut off by Squirrelflight. "Even though a cat from a different Clan would not attack a medicine cat, you should just be safe," she meowed worriedly.

Briarlight was not surprised. She could never go out alone. She always had to take a warrior with her.

Bramblestar turned around and looked across the clearing, scanning it with his piercing amber eyes. "I'd like you to take Foxleap with you."

Briarlight felt her stomach sink. _What else could be more embarrassing?_

Bramblestar flicked his tail at Squirrelflight. Briarlight was confused by this motion, but when Squirrelflight pelted off, and returned a moment later with the reddish tabby tom on her tail, she knew what it meant.

Foxleap looked at Briarlight. His bright green eyes expressionless.

Bramblestar nodded to Foxleap and Briarlight, and then he and his deputy padded away.

Foxleap padded past her, squeezing through the thorn tunnel out of the camp. "Let's go find that goldenrod!" he meowed excitedly.

She gulped, took a deep breath, and then followed him.

Once out into the forest, Foxleap slowed down, keeping pace with her. _Of all cats, why did Bramblestar put me with Foxleap? I would have rather gone with Jayfeather! The grumpy furball. _

Briarlight felt embarrassment crawling under her pelt, as she dragged herself along, slowing Foxleap down. His reddish pelt looked dappled as they passed through sunlight shining through the trees. A twig from an oak tree dug into her belly fur on the ground, and she winced, but held back the whimper of pain that she itched to squeal.

When they finally got to the WindClan border, where the trees thinned out, and heather and gorse bushes grew in their place, the scent of WindClan smelled oddly strong.

"What's up with WindClan and their border patrols?" Foxleap meowed suspiciously. Briarlight nodded. _Could they be provoking a battle with ThunderClan? , _she thought with a shudder.

Briarlight dragged herself over to the streambed, and started to sniff around for goldenrod. The tangy, sour scent of the bright yellow plant was very faint. Briarlight lifted her head, and looked over her shoulder at Foxleap, who was grooming himself.

"I think leaf-bare has already gotten to the goldenrod. The scent is very faint," she meowed quickly.

"I'll help you find some. What does it look like?"

"Well, it's a tall plant with bright yellow flowers. If you chew up a poultice of goldenrod, its really good for healing wounds. And with leaf-bare coming quickly, we're going to need as much as we can get." She explained.

Foxleap headed farther upstream, to where the river curved around a sloping hill, and disappeared around it.

Briarlight moved farther down toward the lake. Her head close to the ground, she didn't hear the pounding paws on the other side of the river.

"What are you doing at the border, squirrel-brained ThunderClan cat!"

Briarlight lifted her head in alarm, and saw a patrol of four WindClan cats, two apprentices and two warriors. She remembered the two warriors from the most recent Gathering. Bramblestar rarely let her go to Gatherings, but lately he'd been letting her go to many more than usual.

She recognized the cat who had spoken as Breezepelt. She remembered him as Crowfeather's and Nightcloud's son. Crowfeather and Leafpool had three kits together, even though they were in different Clans. The three kits were Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf, their dead sister.

The other warrior was a black she-cat with piercing blue eyes, and Briarlight faintly remembered that she was Nightcloud, Breezepelt's mother.

The two apprentices were unknown to Briarlight. The first was a grayish blue tom with blue eyes. The other was a dark gray tabby tom with yellow eyes, and he had a weak look in him, as if he would run away from the patrol as soon as he could.

Briarlight thought quickly. "I-I'm not over your border. I'm just trying to find some goldenrod for Jayfeather and…"

"Hah! Look at her back legs, Nightcloud!" the grayish blue tom laughed to the she-cat warrior. "She can't even walk! How useless would she be? No wonder she's a medicine cat like Jayfeather! Two useless medicine cats, no wonder greencough killed that kittypet warrior last moon…"

Nightcloud hissed a warning to the apprentice, and he backed down with a loud gulp.

Briarlight felt sadness and anger build up inside. Greencough had only been in the ThunderClan camp last moon. Only three cats were infected though, Icecloud, Spiderleg, and Millie, Briarlight's mother. After a half-moon of tenseness for the other cats in the Clan, Icecloud and Spiderleg recovered.

Jayfeather and Briarlight worked tirelessly to save Millie, but it had already engulfed her whole body, and it eventually killed her. _How dare that WindClan apprentice call me useless! How dare he say that it was my and Jayfeather's disability's fault that Millie died! If I could run, I would run over to him and slash his throat open!_

Breezepelt lowered his gaze at the young apprentice. "Watch your mouth, Bluepaw. Or I'll tell Weaselfur that you need another whole moon of training before you become a warrior," Breezepelt warned. Bluepaw's eyes widened and he ducked down to the ground.

Nightcloud stepped up to Briarlight," Get off the border, mouse-breath!"

"I'm just finding some goldenrod! Does it look like I could be a battle patrol?" Briarlight tried to reason with them. ThunderClan needed this goldenrod, no WindClan cat was going to stop her from getting it when she was a whole fox-length away from their territory.

"Yes, it actually does."

Briarlight gave them a questioning gaze, and then smelled more scents from behind her. She turned around to see Birchfall's dawn patrol standing just mouse-lengths away. Also not far off from where the patrol stood, Foxleap watched, eyes round, as Birchfall and his patrol encountered the WindClan cats.

Blossomfall, Toadstep, and Dewpaw stood angrily behind Birchfall. "Briarlight is not doing any harm to your stupid territory, Breezepelt!" Birchfall growled.

"She's too close to the border. If a rabbit hops across it, you ThunderClan mouse-brains will take it!"

Birchfall's hackles raised. "Is that a challenge, Breezepelt? Cause if it is, you'll never win. Four against five. And two of your patrol members are apprentices!"

Nightcloud stepped in front of her son, defending him. "Shut up, stupid ThunderClan mouse-brains! Go back to your camp, and we'll go back to ours. Otherwise, we'll call for backup, and there are WindClan warriors around every rock out here on the moor."

Toadstep yowled a shriek of anger, but Birchfall lowered his shoulder fur, and meowed lastly," Don't think this is over, Nightcloud. We're not done here," he turned around, beckoning with his tail for Briarlight to follow.

Briarlight hissed softly, and slowly followed her Clanmates back into the forest. She peered behind, and saw that Nightcloud, Breezepelt, Bluepaw, and the dark gray tabby apprentice were padding off back to the moor. _Now, not only do I believe I'm useless to the Clan, apparently some of my Clanmates do too. _


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

"What were you thinking, Briarlight? Taking on a whole WindClan patrol?"

Briarlight sighed. Birchfall had been lecturing her throughout the whole way back to camp. As she slid through the thorn tunnel into the camp, Birchfall meowed lastly," Think before you do anything, especially when it involves another Clan,"

Then he stomped away madly to where Whitewing, his mate, was sunning herself in front of the elders den. Dewpaw padded past her, heading to the apprentices' den.

Briarlight still felt anger in her paws. _I hate WindClan. Especially Bluepaw, that stupid apprentice! If you ask me, he should have five more moons of being an apprentice! _

She dragged herself over to the medicine den, preparing herself to be yelled at by Jayfeather for not bringing back goldenrod. Once in the den, she saw Lilydust sitting in the farthest nest in the den. Jayfeather was sitting in front of her, wrapping something on her paw.

Briarlight dragged herself over to the medicine cat, and meowed," What happened, Lilydust?"

Lilydust's green gaze flashed over to Briarlight. "When I was on the dawn hunting patrol this morning, I was chasing a really fat rabbit through some brambles, and then I cut my paw. Why? You gotta' problem with that?"

Briarlight rolled her eyes, remembering that Lilydust was really stuck up. She definetly didn't seem like one of Brackenfur and Sorreltail's kits at all.

Briarlight now saw that Lilydust's right leg was cut, and Jayfeather was putting cobweb around the cut to soak up the blood. "Is there anything I can do to help, Jayfeather?"

Jayfeather kept wrapping the cobweb on Lilydust's leg, but meowed," No. This is a minor wound. I thought you could see that, Briarlight," Briarlight felt her stomach sink. "And where's that goldenrod? I thought you went to get some." She mewed in response," You haven't heard? The whole rest of the Clan has. The WindClan dawn patrol showed up and kicked us out."

Jayfeather stopped wrapping cobweb, and started to pat it down with his own paw."_Us?_"

Briarlight decided to leave out the part about how Foxleap had to come with her, and skip straight to the part about Birchfall and the dawn patrol. "The ThunderClan dawn patrol came and made me come back to camp. And here I am," Jayfeather nodded and then flicked his tail, signaling that he was going outside for a bit.

Briarlight blinked, and then moved to the back wall of the medicine den, to finish sorting herbs. An unusual silence spread through the camp. Briarlight's right ear flicked. She glanced behind her, and saw that sunlight was not shining through the bramble screen as it was a few moments ago.

_Is something happening outside? _she wondered. Briarlight saw that Lilydust had not seemed to notice. _What's happening? Why can't Lilydust hear the silence too?_

She pulled her hind legs around the bramble screen and out into the camp. The eerie silence still engulfed the Clan. Briarlight looked up at the sky, and saw that a huge, almost black cloud was blocking out the sun. It drifted very slowly.

Briarlight saw Squirrelflight and Leafpool standing together under Highledge. Bramblestar was nowhere to be seen in the camp. He must've led the mid-morning patrol.

Lionblaze and Cinderheart stood outside of the Nursery, staring at the blood-curling cloud.

Cinderheart's gray tabby tail was curled around Tigerkit. Stormkit and Rainkit were next to Lionblaze. Daisy was still inside of the Nursery.

All three elders were huddled together in front of the elders' den. Graystripe watched it lazily, his amber eyes barely open. Sandstorm's green eyes were closed, and she leaned into Dustpelt's shoulder fur.

Briarlight spotted Amberpaw, Dewpaw, and Snowpaw lying together by the fresh-kill pile, whispering together. _Everyone's too scared to say or do anything. Even me!_

Briarlight then realized that her two paws were frozen in fear. It seemed like the whole forest had stopped moving. The rustling trees were now silent. The soothing call of the birds was cut off. Even the distant sound of the Twolegplace, which was beyond RiverClan territory on the far side of the lake was completely silent.

Everything seemed quiet. Too quiet for Briarlight's liking. The camp entrance rustled and Bramblestar pushed his way through. He looked around the camp. Briarlight watched him climb the slope to Highledge, and he called to the Clan.

"Look this way!" Almost half of the Clan looked at Bramblestar, his loud voice snapping them out of the mesmerizing cloud. "I am as clueless about this strange cloud as all of you are, but I'm sure that…"

"StarClan might be angry!" worriedly yowled Daisy from the Nursery. Bramblestar glanced at her, but then continued," That could be true, Daisy," Daisy's eyes widened and she gulped loudly. Bramblestar took notice and meowed quickly after," Or it couldn't! I'm sure that we are all fine. We could all use a good night's rest…" at that moment, the dark cloud moved out of the sun's way.

Bramblestar blinked appreciably at it. He then looked back down and meowed," See? Just a cloud." Briarlight could tell that he was struggling for the right words. He beckoned to Squirrelflight and they both disappeared into his den.

The camp returned to normal, as the cloud drifted away.

Too many things worried Briarlight. Foxleap, the deafening cloud that silenced the entire forest, Tigerkit taking her place as Jayfeather's helper. She shook her head to clear it. She had to stop worrying so much. Briarlight warily padded back into the medcine den, where Lilydust was resting peacefully, sound alseep.

She heard Lilydust stir in her sleep. _Lucky Lilydust. She never had her backbone broken from a falling tree. She never has to worry about having a mate. It's usual for her. _She then recalled a distant memory, fading in the back of her mind.

_Some cat saved my life many, many moons ago, when I was a kit. What was her name, what was her name... _Then it became clear. The cat's name was Honeyfern, the most loyal, sweet, generous, giving, and most beautiful cat in the Clan. _Why'd she sacrifice her life for me? Of all the cats who could have died that fateful day, it had to be Honeyfern, and to save who's 'special' life? Mine! _

_Maybe it would've been better if Honeyfern had never died for me. I would've been happier in StarClan anyway. It doesn't matter that I had no idea what was in store for me back then. If I'd have died, everything would be perfect! _

For once, Briarlight didn't regret her last thought.


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3:**

A rumbling of pawsteps woke Briarlight two sunrises later. She lifted her head, to see Jayfeather and two warriors following him into the medicine den. His blue eyes flashed with anger as the two warriors, now visibly covered in bleeding scratches, settled into the last two nests in the row.

Briarlight yawned, and stretched her front legs. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes, and now saw that the two warriors were Berrynose and Moletuft. Berrynose was covered in scratches, and one large one on his left shoulder was bleeding so much that the blood was seeping into the fur around it, staining it red.

Moletuft had his own fair share of scratches, but none were as serious as Berrynose's. Jayfeather meowed angrily," Why don't you watch where you're walking next time? Leaf-bare is coming, and I can't be wasting my herbs on mouse-brained warriors wandering into bramble thickets!"

Briarlight saw anger flash in Berrynose's eyes, but only shame and worry in Moletuft's. She dragged herself out of her den as Jayfeather returned from the herb store with already chewed poultices of marigold, which not only healed wounds, but stopped infection.

Briarlight headed around the bramble screen, and saw Rainkit and Stormkit tossing a moss ball back and forth in the middle of the clearing. Behind them, Lionblaze, Dovewing, Ivypool, and Bumblestripe sat, sharing tongues and watching the kits play.

Briarlight dragged herself over to Lionblaze, and asked him gently," May I sit next to you?"

Lionblaze flashed his amber eyes on her, and meowed politely," of course, Briarlight!" He scooted over closer to Dovewing to give the medicine cat some room.

Briarlight watched as Stormkit jumped out to the side of Rainkit, with the moss ball in his mouth. He meowed around it," Can't catch me!"

"We'll see about that!" Rainkit spat playfully, and then flung herself at him, grabbing the moss ball away from her brother and running off with it. _I remember a time like that. Kit-hood. Nothing else mattered except the next meal, and when Millie was going to let us play. Where'd the time go?_

Briarlight was about to watch more, but it sounded like the four warriors beside her had a more interesting conversation.

Lionblaze meowed," Have you been thinking about having kits yet?"

Dovewing meowed with a glance at Bumblestripe, her mate," We have been discussing it, but I don't think we're ready yet. Maybe after Blossomfall's kits are out of the Nursery."

Bumblestripe nodded.

Lionblaze mewed more fiercely," Oh come on Dovewing! That'll take forever! How about after Daisy's kits are out of the Nursery? Shadowkit and Sunkit are quite a pawful!"

Dovewing looked thoughtful, and then shook her head and leaned into Bumblestripe's chest fur. "I'm not ready for kits at the moment. I want more time to embrace being a warrior before handing over my duties."

Lionblaze nodded, understanding finally. Then he looked past Bumblestripe and Dovewing to the silver tabby and white she-cat, who was watching the two kits.

"How about you Ivypool? Found any toms that attract yet?" Ivypool looked oddly at Lionblaze. "Are you kidding? I'm not interested in a mate, thank you very much. I'd be perfectly happy joining the elders kit-free."

Lionblaze looked shocked. "Really? It's quite an honor to have kits of your own."

"I'm absolutely sure."

Briarlight rolled her eyes. Ivypool never wanted a mate, and every cat knew it.

"Let all cats' old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath Highledge for a Clan meeting!" Bramblestar's meow rattled around the clearing, awakening cats who decided to sleep in. Cinderheart pelted out of the den, and raced over to Stormkit and Rainkit, with Tigerkit following close behind.

Briarlight then remembered that today was the day when Lionblaze's and Cinderheart's kits became apprentices. Stormkit and Rainkit reluctantly tossed their moss ball toward the Nursery, and then sat in front of their mother for their washing.

Briarlight spotted Berrynose and Moletuft sitting at the entrance to the medicine den, watching Bramblestar.

_Stupid fur-balls, _she thought. Jayfeather's gray tabby head pushed through the two warriors, and he padded across the clearing to sit beneath Highledge. _I hope he's just sitting there because he's the medicine cat, and not because he's getting an apprentice today, _Briarlight thought, worriedly.

The dawn patrol emerged from the camp entrance. Mousewhisker and Spiderleg were the only two cats in the patrol. Briarlight figured it was because two of their patrol members were sent back to camp.

Ivypool got up and went to lay down next to Whitewing, her mother. Whitewing glanced at her, but then dragged her attention back to Bramblestar, who was getting ready to start the meeting.

Squirrelflight emerged from the warriors den and then sat down next to Jayfeather underneath Highledge.

"I have called you all together to celebrate one of the most important ceremonies in a Clan. The making of new apprentices," he flashed his amber gaze over to Cinderheart, who was just finishing up licking the top of Tigerkit's head.

Cinderheart noticed that Bramblestar was looking at her, and then nudged her three kits forward. They all marched up Highledge and stood next to their leader.

Bramblestar blinked appreciably at them, and then looked back at his gathered Clan.

"By making new apprentices, we show that ThunderClan will survive and remain strong. Stormkit," He beckoned him up with a flick of his tail. "From this day until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Stormpaw. Spiderleg, your time has come for another apprentice. You will be mentor to Stormpaw. Your mentor was Mousefur. She taught you the skills and patience needed to become a true warrior. I expect you to pass on these skills to Stormpaw."

Stormpaw trotted down the rock slope to the ground, and then touched noses with his new mentor. Then he took his seat next to Dewpaw, one of the older apprentices.

Rainkit stepped forward next. "Rainkit, from this day until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Rainpaw. Squirrelflight," Bramblestar glanced down at his mate.

"You are ready for another apprentice. You will be mentor to Rainpaw. Your mentor was Dustpelt. He trained you as a true and prized warrior, one that ThunderClan is proud of. I trust that you will train Rainpaw as Dustpelt trained you."

Squirrelflight watched as her new apprentice bounded down the slope and touched noses. Rainpaw sat down next to Stormpaw, with Snowpaw, Dewpaw's brother, on her other side.

Tigerkit then stepped forward. Briarlight gulped, and felt butterflies in her belly, buzzing around with worry. Jayfeather's face was expressionless, so apparently he wasn't going to give anything away.

"Tigerkit, Jayfeather has asked of me to grant you as his apprentice. Do you accept this role?" Briarlight sighed and felt her heart snap. Now she was going to be Jayfeather's second assistant. She knew that it was more important for him to have a real apprentice, so that he would have someone to take over for him when it was his time to hunt with StarClan. But she couldn't help the feeling of jealousy.

Tigerkit meowed quietly," I do."

Bramblestar flung up his massive dark tabby head. "Tigerkit, from this day until you earn your full name as a medicine cat, you will be known as Tigerpaw. You and Jayfeather will travel to the Moonpool tonight to be accepted by StarClan."

Tigerpaw nodded, and shakily padded down the slope, and touched noses with his mentor. Briarlight spat silently.

Bramblestar nodded to the Clan, releasing them for their morning duties, and then returned to his den to rest. Squirrelflight looked up and then raced up to join him. Briarlight wished that she and Foxleap were that close.

Lionblaze rose stiffly, stretching his tired muscles. He padded over to Cinderheart, sitting a few paces toward the camp entrance. Briarlight watched Rainpaw and Stormpaw follow Dewpaw and Snowpaw to the apprentices' den.

Jayfeather was leading Tigerpaw over to the medicine den. Briarlight lowered her gaze, and followed them quickly.

As she reached the den, Jayfeather was already inside turned away in the back, sorting herbs. Tigerpaw was grooming himself. Jayfeather turned at Briarlight's pawsteps.

"Briarlight! I would like you to show Tigerpaw the den while I go gather some moss for his nest."

Briarlight felt crestfallen. "B-but why can't I gather moss outside while you show him the den?" Jayfeather looked at her questioningly, probably wondering why she was so reluctant to be near Tigerpaw.

"Because, you aren't supposed to go outside the camp without an escort, and all of our warriors and apprentices are busy training, hunting, patrolling, or showing the new apprentices their nests."

"Why can't I go alone? Its just outside of camp..." she clamped her mouth shut as she saw that Jayfeather was lashing his tail.

He lowered his blue eyes annoyingly and mewed," Just show him the den, Briarlight." He pushed past her and disappeared into the camp.

Briarlight turned to Tigerpaw. He looked at her, his amber eyes giving away no emotion.

She sighed and meowed. "Well, this is the medicine den," she pointed with a paw to the row of nests on the left wall, where Berrynose and Moletuft were lying.

"Those nests there are where our patients rest until their injuries are better. Berrynose and Moletuft walked into a bramble thicket this morning, so that's why they're here. They got scratched up pretty bad, but they should be better in two sunrises."

Tigerpaw watched her pull around the den, explaining each inch of it.

Briarlight then moved to the back wall on the left, across from the last nest for injured cats.

"This is our herb store. Every herb here has a specific purpose and every herb can heal something. Jayfeather will teach you more about cures later. Remember, never eat any of these herbs, because most of them here can give you a pain to think about!"

She meowed humorously. Tigerpaw blinked, and then dragged his attention over to the space on the right next to the herb store, where there was a decent sized space, big enough for two small nests. Right now though, it inhabited one large nest.

"What's that nest for?" Tigerpaw asked quietly.

Briarlight flicked her ear. "Th-that's my nest, actually. You and me will probably have to share this little space," she mewed, less enthusiastically. _I completely forgot about where Tigerpaw would have to sleep. I'll have to throw out this nest and get a smaller nest so I can fit. And now there's another reason why I completely didn't want Tigerpaw to become Jayfeather's apprentice. _

Tigerpaw nodded and looked to the wall that was the same length as the one with the row of nests, parallel to it also.

Briarlight nodded to the gaping hole that led to a little room with a nest at the end. "That's Jayfeather's room. Don't go in there unless there's an absolutely horrid emergency. It's only for the true medicine cat."

Tigerpaw then looked at the two nests between Jayfeather's room entrance and a little pool by the bramble screen entrance. "Oh, those are just some extra nests unless we have more than four patients."

"What's the little pool for?" Tigerpaw asked.

"That's for soaking moss in. If one of our patients gets thirsty, just soak a moss ball in the water, and then squeeze it into their mouth. And if you get thirsty, you can drink from it if you like."

Pawsteps in the bramble screen entrance signaled Jayfeather's returning with some scraps for a nest.

Briarlight sighed as he set down the nest and nodded to her to spread it out and make it comfy. _At least he still counts on me to take care of things, not Tigerpaw. _

After spending the rest of the afternoon resetting the medicine den for three cats, Briarlight was ready to eat. Her stomach rumbled for a plump, juicy mouse.

She headed out into the clearing and laid down in front of the camp entrance. Rainpaw and Stormpaw were sharing a rabbit together by the fresh-kill pile.

Briarlight found a mouse that fit the description she was looking for sitting nicely on the fresh-kill pile.

She dug her teeth into it once it sat peacefully between her front paws, and enjoyed the meaty taste.

"Hey Briarlight? Who was the leader before Bramblestar?" Briarlight swallowed her bite and saw that it was Rainpaw who had spoken.

"He was a tom called Firestar. He died two moons before you were born," she took another bite of mouse. Rainpaw wasn't finished.

"Was he a tabby?" "No, he was a flame-colored shade of ginger, almost red like Foxleap, but much brighter."

"Did he have a mate?"

Briarlight sighed. "Yes, Sandstorm was his mate. She retired to the elders' den a moon after he died. Graystripe and Dustpelt went along with her."

This time it was Stormpaw who spoke. "What was Firestar's warrior name?" "His warrior name was Fireheart. Don't you kits know your warrior history?"

Stormpaw looked at his paws and meowed quietly," No. Can you answer our questions, Briarlight?"

_Great. Well, it's better than spending the rest of the night in the medicine den with Tigerpaw. _

"Sure. Ask away," she took the last bite of her mouse and pushed the bones and tiny scraps away to the side.

Stormpaw meowed," Who were Firestar's parents? Do I know them?" Briarlight thought hard, trying to explain to the apprentices that Firestar didn't come from the forest.

"Well, actually, Stormpaw, no cat knows who Firestar's parents were. He wasn't born in the forest. He was born a kittypet, and then when he was six moons old, he was persuaded to join ThunderClan by Graystripe; he was called Graypaw then."

Stormpaw and Rainpaw gasped.

Rainpaw meowed," Wasn't he picked on by the Clan?"

"Yes, he was made fun of by many of the Clan. But, to prove that he was worthy to become an apprentice, he had to battle a tom called Longtail. I'm sure you two know Longtail? He died when a tree fell into this hollow right here. That was also when my backbone got broken..."

Briarlight trailed off, remembering when her life went all wrong.

Stormpaw meowed next," Who was the leader before Firestar?"

"A blueish gray she-cat called Bluestar. She was the leader when Firestar came into the forest."

Rainpaw asked," What was _her _warrior name?"

"Bluefur."

"Mm. Did she have a mate?"

"Yes, and not many cats knew this, but she became mates with a RiverClan tom called Oakheart…"

"She broke the warrior code!" Stormpaw butted in. "Y-yes Stormpaw. She did. She had three kits with him. Mosskit, a gray and white she-cat, Stonekit, a gray tom, and do you know who her last kit is?"

"Is? You mean Bluestar's last kit is still alive? What happened to her other two?" Rainpaw asked, leaning closer.

"Well, Bluestar had Oakheart's kits in ThunderClan, but a tom called Thistleclaw was close to becoming the new deputy, and he was a bloodthirsty, ambitious tom. The current deputy, Tawnyspots, was close to death from greencough.

"Once Tawnyspots died, the choice for deputy was between Thistleclaw and Bluestar. Bluestar knew that she would never been chosen as deputy if she kits. So, she carried her kits to Oakheart. They would be raised in RiverClan. They would never know who their mother was."

Briarlight took a breath before continuing her story. Rainpaw and Stormpaw were both mesmerized by the story, leaning close, eyes wide.

"It was the thickest part of leaf-bare. A blizzard was passing through. Bluestar led her kits through the snow. They were dangerously cold. Finally, Bluestar couldn't push them any longer, and let them rest in the snow next to her.

"She didn't know how long they had slept there, but when Bluestar called her kits to continue their trek to RiverClan, only two of three of her kits came to her,"

"Oh no! What happened to the third kit?" Rainpaw burst in.

"Bluestar wondered the same thing, Rainpaw. She checked inside the hole she'd dug for them to sleep in. Mosskit was lying there, dead, almost buried in snow,"

Rainpaw squealed in fear. Stormpaw's green eyes were wide, and he was leaning toward his sister.

"Bluestar sat there and wailed for Mosskit. She buried Mosskit deep in the snow, so when she'd delivered her two surviving kits to RiverClan, she would be able to bury her daughter for real. She didn't want Mosskit to be carried away by foxes.

"She gave her two surviving kits to Oakheart, and then returned to camp. She scratched a hole in the back of the Nursery wall, and then returned to her nest. She screamed,' my kits are gone!' Everyone believed that her kits had been taken by a fox. She was then made deputy."

Stormpaw gaped," whoa," Rainpaw nodded, but then stopped and accusingly mewed," Wait! What about Bluestar's two surviving kits? Are they still alive? Who are they? Are they RiverClan?"

Briarlight nodded," Stonekit grew up in RiverClan, and finally got the warrior name of Stonefur. He was killed during Tigerstar's rain. He was ripped apart by Darkstripe and Blackstar, who was then called Blackfoot. He was one of Tigerstar's followers. Stonefur died defending my half-brother and half-sister, Stormfur and Feathertail. Feathertail died saving the Tribe of Rushing Water, and Stormfur currently lives with the Tribe."

Rainpaw's voice grew angry. "Who's the other kit? Tell us, Briarlight!"

"Her name is Mistykit. She also grew up in RiverClan with Stonefur. She eventually got the warrior name of Mistyfoot. Ringing any bells yet, you two?"

The two apprentices looked lost and shook their heads no.

"She was appointed deputy after Stonefur died; did I mention that Stonefur was the deputy then? Probably not. Once Leopardstar died, Mistyfoot became the leader, Mistystar."

"Mistystar is Bluestar's kit? Holy StarClan!" Rainpaw yowled. Stormpaw gaped. "Wow! That's cool!"

Briarlight nodded. She looked behind her at the sun, and saw that it was almost sun-down. "Any more questions?"

"Umm, yeah. Who was the leader before Bluestar?" asked Rainpaw.

"He was a bright ginger tom called Sunstar. His warrior name was Sunfall. He had no mate. He had a brother called Featherwhisker, who was Spottedleaf's mentor. Spottedleaf was the medicine cat before Yellowfang, she was the medicine cat before Cinderpelt, she was the medicine cat before Leafpool, she was the medicine cat before Jayfeather." Briarlight listed off all of the questions she knew that the two cats could ask.

"Who was the leader before Sunstar?" Stormpaw asked.

"A reddish brown tom called Pinestar. His warrior name was Pinefur. He had no mate. He left to be a kittypet. He's also the reason code 15 in the warrior code was made. He's also responsible for the warrior name of Lionheart."

"How about the leader before him?" Stormpaw mewed.

Briarlight sighed, trying to remember this far back.

"A tortoiseshell she-cat called Hazelstar. Her warrior name was Hazelstream. She had a mate called Mumblefoot. She had one kit with him, Robinwing. Robinwing is Dustpelt's mother. Later on, Hazelstar had another litter of two with Mumblefoot. She had two kits, Dapplekit and Greenkit. Greenkit died from greencough as an apprentice. Dapplekit became Dapplepaw and then Dappletail. Dappletail had two kits with some tortoiseshell and white tom that no cat can remember, and they both were killed in the cold of leaf-bare.

"Any more questions?"

Stormpaw and Rainpaw looked thoughtful, and then Rainpaw meowed," Yeah. Who was the leader before Hazelstar?"

Briarlight let out a huff of exasperation. "Here, let's continue this tomorrow. I'm tired, and I really just want to curl up in my nest and go to sleep," _Yeah, my nest minus half because of stupid Tigerpaw. _

Stormpaw nodded and bounded away to Lionblaze. Rainpaw scampered after him.

Briarlight pulled up her front legs, and entered the medicine den. By now, the sun was already down. The moon was shining its bright white rays across the camp. Cats were already starting to head to their nests for the night.

She slowly adjusted her eyes to the darkness in the den. She could make out the cream color of Berrynose and the cream and brown of Moletuft. Everything else was too dark.

She trudged around the pool of water and then found her smaller nest. She now saw the thin edge of light around Tigerpaw's dark tabby fur.

Briarlight settled down, curling up, and positioning her limp hind legs in a tight circle. She could hear Jayfeather's slow breaths from his nest in the next room over. Tigerpaw barely made a noise while he slept.

_Well, at least I'll get a good night's sleep. Maybe, _she thought grimly.

Briarlight didn't know how much time had passed when she slowly drifted into sleep.

She opened her eyes and saw that she was standing in the middle of the camp. It was moonhigh. A half moon floated in the center of the sky. Transparent clouds blocked out some of its rays.

Then, a blood-curling battle yowl screeching outside of the camp entrance. An unfamiliar scent hung in the air. Briarlight tried to turn around and yowl to the rest of ThunderClan that they were being attacked, but fear engulfed her whole body, and she couldn't move. Suddenly, a sleek black tom with a white flash on his chest pelted threw the camp, his green eyes wide. He was carrying two kits, who looked about 5 moons old. He screamed to the Clan," run!" He sped through, past Briarlight. Then, following close behind the black tom, a group of unfamiliar cats poured into the camp and started to jump into battle.

They seemed to ignore her, and then Briarlight remembered that this was a dream. She wasn't really here.

She saw Bramblestar and Brackenfur fighting side by side underneath Highledge. Squirrelflight had a black tabby tom pinned to the ground in front of the sunning rock where she gave out patrols.

Jayfeather was standing, ears folded back, in front of Tigerpaw. He was hissing at gray tom, who was trying to get to the young apprentice medicine cat.

Rainpaw and Stormpaw were struggling to fight a gray tabby and white tom that was bigger than both of them combined.

A screech from the middle of the clearing made Briarlight cringe, and she slowly looked to the center. She saw a muscular dark brown tom with piercing amber eyes standing triumphantly above the limp body of Birchfall. The light brown tabby tom laid there, blood pooling under his head, from a scratch right under his eye.

The murderer of Birchfall hopped off of the bleeding body, and then batted Whitewing to the side, as she tried to reach her mate.

Then Briarlight's sight was knocked off track as the world spun. When she came to her senses, she saw that a black tom with pale yellow eyes had thrown Dustpelt at her.

The dark tabby elder was now lying, limp, on top of Briarlight. Her eyes widened, and she hopped up, and saw that Dustpelt was already dead. _Who are these rogues?_

The sleek black tom from before rushed to Dustpelt's side and he meowed quietly," brother?" and then Dustpelt's murderer threw himself at the black tom who claimed to be Dustpelt's brother. The tom sped off.

Briarlight watched as Icecloud rushed past and yowled," Foxleap!"

She turned around and watched as Icecloud rushed to her brothers side and they both started battling a dark gray she-cat. The she-cat hissed and slashed an unsheathed claw at Foxleap's face, knocking him to the ground, dead.

The last Briarlight heard of her terrible dream was Icecloud yelling," Foxleap! No!"

Briarlight stood there in the middle of the fighting; frozen in anger._ Foxleap was dead? Or was going to die?_

What was the point of this dream? Was it an omen?

Then, before Briarlight could ask herself another question, the ThunderClan camp disappeared before her paws. Then StarClan territory appeared in its place.

She looked around, fear-stricken. Then, a ginger tom, a dark gray she-cat, and a grayish blue she-cat padded out of the trees in front of Briarlight. They all came over to her, and sat down.

Briarlight realized that the ginger tom was Firestar, and the grayish blue she-cat was Bluestar, but the dark gray she-cat sitting next to Firestar was un-recognizable.

Firestar spoke first. "Briarlight, I understand you have received our prophecy," _Prophecy? Why would StarClan send me a prophecy? Jayfeather's the medicine cat, not me._

She opened her mouth to ask, but Bluestar answered her question before it had left her mouth. "Because, Briarlight, you face a destiny that is much more important. Your destiny is filled with twists and turns, but it is also very important. You must listen to our prophecy," she meowed calmly.

Firestar noticed that Briarlight was staring questioningly at the dark gray she-cat sitting next to him.

"Briarlight, this is Cinderpelt. She was my first medicine cat. She was Leafpool's mentor. She died defending Sorreltail as she was delivering her first litter. As our whole Clan already knows, Cinderpelt was reincarnated as Cinderheart for some time, but now she is very much her own spirit,"

Cinderpelt blinked at Briarlight and dipped her head.

She nodded to the she-cat, and then mewed to Firestar," B-but what is the prophecy? That some rogues will come into our camp and kill our Clan off?"

Cinderpelt cut her off. "No, dear. You must listen carefully," Cinderpelt leaned closer, and then her voice grew wiser, as if she had all of the sudden turned into a different cat," The three have come and gone, their destinies fulfilled. But a shining star is calling to them, and three more will lead the way to StarClan. They must find the ancient way of communication, and only then, peace will fulfill the forest, in the way of the last star"

Cinderpelt returned to normal, leaning back. Briarlight felt overwhelmed, confused by every word in the prophecy. She then looked up and saw that her vision was starting to fade. "Wait! I don't understand!"

Then the world of StarClan went black, and Briarlight woke up in her familiar nest, facing toward Tigerpaw, who was still sound asleep. The gentle breaths of Jayfeather from his own room calmed her, and the morning calls of birds from outside signaled that it was dawn. The air felt cool, and a slow mist scent hung in the air.

_Why in the name of StarClan would Cinderpelt, Firestar, and Bluestar give _me _a prophecy? I'm barely a medicine cat at all, just Jayfeather's assistant. Though I probably won't be for long now that he's got Tigerpaw, _Briarlight cringed at the name of the little dark brown tabby tom. Tigerpaw caused all of this. If he hadn't become a medicine cat apprentice, then Briarlight wouldn't have been thinking bad thoughts throughout her last few moons, which were filled with worry.

Then StarClan wouldn't have thought that she was worthy of a prophecy as important sounding as this one. Jayfeather would've known what to do with a prophecy, she hadn't the slightest idea!

_If Foxleap does die, I don't know if I'll be able to live a moment longer than he. _


	5. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4:**

"Come on!" Jayfeather encouraged. Tigerpaw looked thoughtful, and then mewed quietly," I don't know. My mind just goes blank..."

"Then put something in that blank mind of yours!" Jayfeather retorted sourly.

Briarlight had been listening to the two gabble on and on. It was nearly sundown now. Briarlight had hoped to take a nap in her nest after spending the day collecting herbs with Jayfeather by the ShadowClan border. But, silly her, apparently Jayfeather and Tigerpaw were going to be up until later reviewing the newly brought in herbs.

Jayfeather sighed after Tigerpaw shrugged, signaling that he really didn't know what was best for shortness of breath. "Coltsfoot." Jayfeather replied. Tigerpaw flicked his tail.

Briarlight couldn't take this any more. It was impossible to sleep with these two!

She exited the den as quickly as possible. The sun was just sinking behind the trees of ShadowClan's territory. The camp was covered halfway in shadow, and halfway in reddish orange sunlight. Cinderheart and Lionblaze were sharing prey underneath Highledge with Brackenfur, Sorreltail, and Seedbriar. Seedbriar was Lilydust's sister.

In front of the elders' den, Graystripe and Sandstorm lay, grooming each others fur, even though it was an apprentices job. Graystripe wiped his tongue across Sandstorm's pale ginger fur, rolling out the matts. Dustpelt must've stayed inside the den. He'd been more quiet and lonely since his mate, Ferncloud, had died in the battle eight moons ago.

At the Nursery entrance, Daisy and Blossomfall lay side by side, the only two queens in the Clan since Cinderheart had moved back to the warriors' den. Shadowkit and Sunkit wrestled in front of them.

In the warriors' den, Birchfall, Whitewing, Poppyfrost, and Berrynose sat, watching Shadowkit and Sunkit. They were the only two kits in the Clan now. Until Blossomfall's kits were born.

Briarlight let relief take over her, washing away the worry. Ever since her dream the night before, she'd been shaken up. Every time Sunkit or Shadowkit would yell, she would come rushing out to see if everything was alright. And whenever a warrior would come strolling into camp yelling loudly, Briarlight was there.

_What could Cinderpelt mean? The prophecy makes no since at all. Who are... the three? What is the 'ancient way of communication'? I have to tell Jayfeather. Surely he's dealt with prophecies and omens before? He'd know what to do. _

She was just about to head back into the medicine den, when Jayfeather pushed past her, heading across the clearing, over to the camp entrance. Tigerpaw was scampering along behind him, struggling to keep up with his puny kit legs.

_Who got under his fur?_

He looked mad, and every sensible ThunderClan cat knew not to mess with Jayfeather when he was angry.

All of the sudden, Squirrelflight entered the camp from the entrance, right where Jayfeather and Tigerpaw had disappeared to. The deputy's green eyes flashed wildly, and then three cats with odd scents followed after her.

Briarlight flicked her ears, and she heard Rosepetal and Hazeltail gasp from by the fresh-kill pile. The three cats looked no older than 4 moons. They looked around guiltily, and had their ears laid back.

Squirrelflight flicked her tail to Lionblaze. The golden tom reluctantly bounded over after a nod of approval. Squirrelflight whispered something to Lionblaze, Briarlight unable to comprehend it.

She noticed that all of ThunderClan had taken up staring at the three kits. They all looked around, eyes wide with terror. The biggest kit was a dark gray tom with pale yellow eyes. He was bigger than his brothers, and looked almost big enough to be an apprentice. The next tom, one that had a pure white pelt and green eyes, had amazingly long legs and a nimble body, even for a kit. The smallest kit was a dark brown and white tom with amber eyes. He was pressed up against the white kit, and was visibly trembling in fear.

Squirrelflight bounded up the rocky slope to Bramblestar's den. She disappeared into the den, hidden now by the shadow of the trees. Briarlight watched the kits looked around, quite unaware of where they were.

Lionblaze sat down. He seemed uncomfortable guarding these three unknown kits. Cinderheart watched silently, a bit shaken up by her mate's new duty.

Then Bramblestar and Squirrelflight appeared on top of Highledge. "Let all cats' old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath Highledge for a Clan meeting!" _There's really no point in calling the ceremonial greeting. The dusk patrol has already come back and everyone is out enjoying the sunset. _Briarlight thought, watching Shadowkit and Sunkit stop playing and watching their leader.

Bramblestar meowed," Squirrelflight has informed me that her dusk patrol found these three kits," he flicked his tail to Lionblaze, with the three kits watching behind him. "while patrolling the lake border. It is too late to be sending out a patrol tonight, but tomorrow I will send a patrol of warriors to WindClan to see if they've lost any kits. The patrol will make their way around the lake, visiting RiverClan and ShadowClan. They will return back here before dusk with or without the kits."

The Clan meowed agreement. Briarlight watched as Bramblestar and Squirrelflight padded down the slope and stood in front of the kits. Lionblaze walked off, seeing no more need to watch over them.

She streched her ears to hear what the kits were talking about. "Do you three know what Clan you came from?" Bramblestar asked. The dark brown and white kit backed down behind the white tom, scared of the massive tabby leader. The dark gray kit stood up proudly. He mewed," It's none of your business, ThunderClan cat!" and swiped a paw at Bramblestar, just missing his nose.

Squirrelflight growled, and Bramblestar pulled back. He then glanced at the Highledge and pelted underneath it, abandoning his mate and the three kits. He reached underneath Highledge and yowled," Until tomorrow, these kits will stay in the medicine den with Jayfeather, Briarlight, and Tigerpaw."

By now, Jayfeather and Tigerpaw were padding through the camp entrance. Jayfeather had just been within earshot to hear Bramblestar's call.

"What?" the blind tom hissed. "We shouldn't be in charge of some lost mouse-brained kits! We're enough crowded as it is!"

Jayfeather lashed his tail. "Why can't Daisy and Blossomfall take care of them? They're the ones who know about raising kits!"

Bramblestar shot Jayfeather a hard gaze. "I am not putting these three kits in the Nursery, Jayfeather, because Daisy is busy with her own two. Blossomfall has only just moved into the Nursery a half moon ago. She is too inexperianced with kits yet. You and Briarlight will be in charge of them until tomorrow morning."

Briarlight felt excitment and worry shooting through her body. _I'm in charge of kits? That'll show Jayfeather that I am still his number 1 helper, and Tigerpaw will see that I am still Jayfeather's most trusted assistant. _

Bramblestar nodded to Squirrelflight, and then they both padded over to Briarlight, Jayfeather, and Tigerpaw, with the kits padding along after them, the dark gray tom in the lead.

Bramblestar meowed to the kits," this is Jayfeather," he signaled to the gray tabby tom. "He's ThunderClan's medicine cat." Briarlight knew that it was a wise choice for Bramblestar to leave out that Jayfeather was also blind.

The dark gray kit lowered his head angrily. "I wanna go home!" His long-legged brother joined in," yeah! Me too!"

Bramblestar cast a worried glance at Squirrelflight. Jayfeather meowed to the kits," Where is home?" Briarlight could tell that he was trying to control not yowling at these stubborn kits.

The biggest kit meowed," You don't need to know! That's our business. We'll go back to our Clan when we feel like it."

Jayfeather's shoulder fur was starting to fluff up, and he lashed his tail from side to side. Briarlight listened and looked on the kits happily as Bramblestar introduced her. "This is Briarlight," he pointed to her. "She's not a true medicine cat, but her hind legs were crushed by a falling tree when she was an apprentice. While resting in the medicine den, Jayfeather has taught her knowledge about herbs, and now she's almost like his apprentice."

Briarlight stiffled back a hiss of exasperation. _Almost. _

The leader kit looked oddly at her, like she was some sort of monster. The long-limbed white kit was expressionless, as he was hid behind by his younger brother. Bramblestar lifted his head. "Jayfeather, Briarlight. I trust you to get the kits situated for the night. Let them sleep in the nests for now. They will return home tomorrow, wherever it may be."

Once Bramblestar and Squirrelflight padded off, Jayfeather hissed and walked into the medicine den. Briarlight watched him, worried. Then carryed her gaze back to the three kits standing before her.

"As you know, my name is Briarlight. What are your names?"

The dark gray kit stepped up proudly. "I'm Vinekit. This is Quickkit," he pointed toward the white tom,"and that's Darkkit," he directed his stubby little tail over to the tiny dark brown and white tom.

"Well, kits, lets get you acquainted with ThunderClan. The dark brown tabby that was just talking to you is our leader, Bramblestar. The dark ginger she-cat that was next to him is Squirrelflight, our deputy, and Bramblestar's mate,"

Briarlight dragged herself over to the middle of the clearing, hoping to get a better view of every cat in the Clan for the kits.

Vinekit stood next to her. Quickkit stood next to him, and Darkkit was behind them both.

"The medicine cat is Jayfeather. You already know him. I'm his assistant. Even though he already has an apprentice, Tigerpaw," she felt a pang of hate as she pointed her nose at the little dark brown tabby sharing prey with Cinderheart.

Vinekit meowed," Who are they?" he pointed to five cats sharing tongues with each other in front of the warriors den. They were just visible as the sun sank behind the trees, now covering the whole camp in shadow.

"The golden brown tabby is Brackenfur, and the tortoiseshell and white she-cat sharing tongues with him is his mate, Sorreltail. The bigger golden brown tabby tom is Thornclaw, Brackenfur's brother. Umm..." Briarlight struggled in the light, trying to make out the two other cats.

"Oh yes. The tortoiseshell she-cat is Poppyfrost, one of Brackenfur and Sorreltail's kits. And the cream-colored tom sharing tongues with her is her mate, Berrynose. I wouldn't go poking around with Berrynose, kits, he's got quite a mouth."

Vinekit rolled his eyes and meowed," I bet I could take him."

Briarlight struggled to keep her mouth closed.

She directed the kits' attention on the apprentices' den, where all five apprentices were talking loudly.

Briarlight pulled over to them. Amberpaw stopped grooming herself and meowed," Hey Briarlight! Hello... kits," she mewed uncertainly. Vinekit meowed to her," Who're you?" he spat, looking the she-cat up and down. Dewpaw stepped in front of his sister," Hey! Nobody talks to my sister that way!"

Vinekit hissed back," oh yeah?"

Briarlight yowled," stop! Vinekit, back off and keep your mouth shut. Dewpaw's right." Dewpaw raised his head proudly. Vinekit hissed silently, and backed away from the two apprentices.

Amberpaw meowed from next to Dewpaw," I'm Amberp-"

"And I'm Dewpaw." he interrupted. "aw..." Amberpaw meowed, casting a glance on her brother for interrupting her. Vinekit pretended not to pay attention to them. He looked at Snowpaw. Snowpaw noticed and mewed," I-I'm Snowpaw. Nice to meet you, kits," he dipped his head. Dewpaw meowed to Vinekit," this is my brother, Snowpaw."

"I don't care if the whole Clan are your siblings!" Vinekit growled. Dewpaw's amber eyes flashed, and Briarlight hissed again," Vinekit! Keep your mouth shut!" Vinekit lashed his little tail.

Rainpaw and Stormpaw meowed from next to the apprentices' den," Hello!"

Vinekit, Quickkit, and Darkkit padded on over to them. Quickkit spoke up in a voice deeper than a normal kits," Who are you two?"

Stormpaw meowed," I'm Stormpaw. This is my sister, Rainpaw." Rainpaw flicked her tail in greeting. Briarlight noticed that Vinekit looked at the two apprentices with hatred, while Quickkit and Darkkit looked at them will friendliness.

"C-come on you three. We'll go on with the Clan tomorrow morning. Then you can meet Shadowkit and Sunkit, ThunderClan's only two kits at the moment."

Quickkit bounced with excitement, and Darkkit wasn't hiding behind his brother for once. Vinekit's pale yellow eyes were expressionless.

_Poor Vinekit. I know how you feel. Don't belong, nothing seems right. _

Briarlight led the kits across the clearing into the medicine den. Tigerpaw was already curled up, asleep, in his nest. Jayfeather was sitting in the back, grooming himself clean. Briarlight's nest sat comfortably in the back. It seemed to be calling to her, and only then did she notice how tired she was.

"Umm... let's have you three sleep in these last three nests here," She padded over to the longest row of nests, and pointed to the last three ones. _Just so they don't get any ideas about escaping in the night. _

Vinekit hopped into the nest closest to the back wall, and curled up. Quickkit took the one on the right of him, and Darkkit scampered into the next one. They all looked pretty comfy, so that was when Briarlight curled up in her nest. She forced herself to stay awake until the kits fell asleep.

_Cause if I fall asleep they might get up and leave. Bramblestar will have my tail cut off if that happens. _

Briarlight watched Quickkit and Darkkit fall asleep at about the same time. Vinekit's eyes were starting to close, but he opened them up again. She watched, waiting, praying to StarClan that he would just fall asleep and let her do the same.

Then as if on cue, Vinekit's pale yellow eyes blinked once and then closed. Briarlight sighed and nuzzled her head into her nest, enjoying the warmth of the den surrounding her. And then, Briarlight slowly drifted into sleep.


	6. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5:**

An unfamiliar scent wreathed the medicine den when Briarlight opened her eyes. She sniffed, and the smell was almost worse that crow-food. She blinked her eyes, and saw Tigerpaw breathing steadily in the next nest over. Jayfeather was snoring gently in his room.

Briarlight cringed at the terrible scent. She then glanced over at the entrance, and saw a blood-curling sight. The black sillouetted shape of a cat. His violet eyes were darkened. _Violet eyes? _

The cat's fur was barely fur at all. It was black in patches, but the skin under the black fur was bare and creamy. It wrinkled as it breathed, and sharp, pointed teeth glinted off of the moonlight behind.

Briarlight froze, scared to death. She had never seen this cat before. He looked deathly old, and the crow-food scent was stronger when she wriggled her nose. Gulping silently, Briarlight mewed," W-who are you?"

The wrinkled old cat lowered his violet eyes and meowed in a very low and sly-sounding voice," your worst nightmare,"

Briarlight had no response, just watching the strange cat as he lashed his patchy black tail. "Briarlight," a voice meowed. She looked around the den. The voice that had just spoken her name had definetly not come from the old crow-food cat.

"Briarlight?!" the voice spoke again, louder and more alarmed this time. Briarlight looked around the den. Then while searching, she noticed something wrong. The wrinkled old cat wasn't at the camp entrance anymore. Moonlight shone through the bramble screen, casting a blueish silver light on the dirt covering the ground where the strange visitor had just been standing.

All of the sudden, the rotten smell came wreathing around her neck fur. She turned around slowly, fearing for the worst. The cat was standing right behind her nest. "AHHHHHHHH!" she screeched, fear pulsing through her pelt, turning up every hair on her fur.

"Briarlight!" Briarlight blinked open her eyes, and was immediatly blinded by a bright light. The medicine den surrounded her, and warm dawn sunlight was shining through the bramble screen. She looked around wildy, and saw that the mysterious voice speaking to her seconds ago was actually Jayfeather. The gray tabby was standing over her nest, fear in his sightless eyes. Tigerpaw was no where to be seen.

"Where'd the crow-food cat go?" she asked cautiously, peering behind her nest at the small gap between it and the back wall, where the cat had just been standing.

"What in StarClan's name are you talking about? I woke up to find you stirring in your sleep. I've been trying to wake you up, and then you screeched, and then finally you woke up. Tigerpaw is already outside eating," Jayfeather meowed.

Briarlight looked around one last time. Then turned to Jayfeather. "Uh, its nothing. Nevermind. It must've just been a dream," she mewed, hoping that it was.

"What about?" he asked, sitting down.

_Great. Just what I need to start the morning. Explaining. _She sighed and began. "Well, I remember waking up, and hearing you and Tigerpaw sleeping in your nests. It was a little past moonhigh and bright moonlight was shining through the bramble screen. I was just questioning myself to why'd I woken up, and then I looked at the entrance, and saw a gruesome looking cat standing there,"

She shuddered, remembering his terrible appearance.

"What'd the cat look like?"

"Well, he was completely bald. Like, no fur except for a few black patches. His creamy skin was so wrinkly, it almost made me sick," she paused, and then remembered the color of the eyes. "Oh yeah, and his eyes were the most peculiar color..."

"What color?" Jayfeather cut her off. He was slowly sliding up, as if ready to dash out of the den. "They were violet." Jayfeather looked down at his paws. "I think I know who you're talking about. I will take you to the Gathering tonight. Bramblestar will not object, I can assure you."

Briarlight was confused. She knew that there was a Gathering later on tonight, but what'd he hope to accomplish by taking her to it?

Jayfeather seemed to know she was confused, and then mewed," you will understand, Briarlight. But, I can tell you this... his returning to the Clans is not a good sign." _Returning? Jayfeather's not much older than me. If he knew of some weird cat who's visited the Clans, then so should I. _

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath Highledge for a Clan meeting," Bramblestar called to his Clan. Squirrelflight bounded up the slope to Highledge to join her mate. Briarlight lay down in front of the warriors den with Blossomfall, Toadstep, Lionblaze, Rainpaw, and Stormpaw. Blossomfall and Toadstep shared a vole. Lionblaze was watching his two kits wrestle together, practicing new battle moves that their mentors had taught them earlier in the day.

Briarlight had spent the entire day up until now relaxing. Surprisingly, Jayfeather hadn't assigned her to do anything. No collecting herbs, Tigerpaw was sent to do that, no sorting herbs, Jayfeather was taking care of that at the moment...

It was nice to be able to relax once in a while. She had even been allowed by Bramblestar to go to one of Rainpaw and Stormpaw's battle training sessions in the training hollow farther in the forest.\

Luckily, Vinekit, Quickkit, and Darkkit had returned home. They were actually ShadowClan kits, Snowbird's to be exact. In the middle of the night last night, they had gone to the Nursery to sleep with Daisy and her kits. At sunhigh earlier, a ThunderClan patrol was sent out to all of the Clans. They had eventually come to ShadowClan and found that Snowbird was missing three of her kits. The patrol returned to ThunderClan, and then rushed back to ShadowClan, returning the kits safe and sound to their mother.

ThunderClan had now all gathered in the clearing, watching their leader. Foxleap and Icecloud sat underneath the ledge, looking steeply up the wall to their leader. Cinderheart, Sorreltail, Spiderleg, Ivypool, and Seedbriar sat behind them. Sorreltail and Cinderheart were talking back and forth. Spiderleg looked annoyed at whatever the two she-cats were saying. Ivypool and Seedbriar were whispering gently, casting angry glances at Spiderleg.

Bramblestar spoke now. "I've gathered you all here to announce which cats will be attending tonight's Gathering. Squirrelflight and I will be leading the Clan to the island. Jayfeather has asked of me to bring Briarlight, which I will accept." Briarlight silently thanked StarClan, hoping earlier that Jayfeather was telling the truth.

"Tigerpaw, you will also come to be introduced to the other medicine cats. I have chosen the following warriors and apprentices: Brackenfur, Cloudtail, Brightheart, Thornclaw, Birchfall, Foxleap, Bumblestripe, Berrynose, Toadstep, Lionblaze, Cinderheart, Ivypool, Cherryleaf, Moletuft, Lilydust, Seedbriar, Snowpaw, Rainpaw, and Stormpaw."

Murmurs of agreement rose around the clearing. There would be enough warriors going to make the Clan look strong, and there would be enough warriors left in camp to defend if the Clan if it was invaded.

Spiderleg looked angry that he wasn't chosen, but at least he had the sense to keep quiet. He stalked off into the warriors den. Lionblaze got up, and started heading over to the camp entrance. Briarlight looked up at the darkening night sky. The sun had already slunk behind the skyline, and the moon was already making its journey over the forest.

The Clan would be leaving soon.

Bramblestar and Squirrelflight padded down the rocky slope to the ground, and stood by the tunnel, waiting for the chosen cats to assemble. Lionblaze and Bramblestar were talking silently, too far away for Briarlight to understand. Jayfeather padded up behind her and mewed," Are you ready to leave?"

"Yeah..." she then remembered her older dream she'd had. The dream where a strange group of cats had attacked the camp, killing three of her Clanmates. Then some StarClan cats came and one, Cinderpelt, had given her a prophecy. Both of her dreams had bad endings. What did they both mean? She would most likely find out tonight.

Jayfeather had already starting walking over to the other cats going to the Gathering. Briarlight got up and dragged herself over to him.

By the time all of the cats had assembled at the camp entrance, it was almost moonhigh. Bramblestar cast one last look over the camp, and then led the way through the thorn tunnel. Squirrelflight and Foxleap followed right after him. Then Briarlight pulled through, and then swerved off to the side to let her Clanmates pass. Brackenfur and Thornclaw's golden brown tabby pelts rushed by, and then the rest of the Clan moved through a bit slower. Briarlight joined in the group of cats when Cinderheart, Rainpaw, Snowpaw, and Stormpaw passed.

Rainpaw and Snowpaw were talking about the cats from the other Clans. Stormpaw was padding along, listening. Cinderheart meowed to Briarlight," How's it going in the medicine den?" Briarlight pulled over a twig, making her wince. "Oh, the usual. Jayfeather being grumpy, Tigerpaw being quiet," she was about to say, 'annoying', but remembered that she was talking to his mother.

Cinderheart nodded.

The cats padded through the forest, and then finally the lake appeared, glimmering in the moonlight. The water shimmered as a fish splashed farther out. A warm breeze blew off of the lake, warming Briarlight's fur. Bramblestar nodded to the Clan, and then started padding around the water's edge.

Slowly, the grass underneath her paws disappeared and sand appeared in its place. It felt night-cool on her pads. Rainpaw and Stormpaw looked relieved too.

Briarlight looked up ahead and saw that the river that separated ThunderClan and WindClan was coming up. They had made good time so far. They would probably be the first Clan to the island if they kept up this speed.

Cinderheart inhaled, and then looked around, like she'd scented something. None of the apprentices seemed to notice. Briarlight sniffed the air too, but the only smell was WindClan and the lake. "Did you pick up a scent?" Briarlight asked the she-cat. "Umm, yes, actually. It's faint, so its probably just blown in from the horseplace across the lake..."

Briarlight felt the air, and found that the wind was blowing toward the horseplace. _Sorry, Cinderheart. Not possible..._

She was about to say something, when Bramblestar yowled from the front of the Clan. They'd reached the river. "We'll cross one-by-one," he ordered. "I'll go first, then Squirrelflight, and then Jayfeather, Tigerpaw, and Briarlight will follow. Then the apprentices, and then the warriors."

Briarlight moved to the front of the Clan, just in time to see Bramblestar reach the other side of the river. The dark tabby tom signaled for Squirrelflight to cross next. Briarlight looked and saw the familiar stepping stones the Clan used to reach WindClan territory.

Squirrelflight bounded over easily. Then Jayfeather stepped up with Tigerpaw at his side. All of the sudden, Cinderheart appeared at Briarlight's shoulder. She padded up to Jayfeather and meowed sternly," _I _will carry him across."

Briarlight held a snicker of laughter. She knew that any normal apprentice would be embarrased at his mother carrying him three tail-lengths across the most calm river in the whole forest. But, as already figured out, Tigerpaw wasn't a normal apprentice. He actually looked pleased at the prospect of his mother carrying him.

"He's old enough to take care of himself!" Jayfeather spat. "This is one of the calmest rivers in the forest!" Cinderheart hissed and retorted," What? He's your son now? I don't think so!" She picked up her son and stepped onto the first stone. Jayfeather's neck fur fluffed up and he yowled," No! He's_ my _apprentice!"

Briarlight could tell that Jayfeather knew Cinderheart was ignoring him.

Bramblestar and Squirrelflight were exchanging nervous glances. Even the Clan leader didn't want to get into this one.

Once Cinderheart and Tigerpaw reached WindClan territory, Jayfeather grumpily stepped across. Briarlight remembered what to do so that she didn't get her legs wet. She carefully stepped her front paws onto the first stone, with her hind legs still balancing on the land. Then, as quick as a cat with her disability could be, she jumped her front legs onto the next stone, and luckily, her hind legs slapped onto the first one.

Embarrassment crawled through her pelt as the whole Clan watched her. _I hope I'm not slowing us down. _

She repeated the same procedure over and over until she jumped onto WindClan territory. She turned around to see annoyed and impatient looks on the faces of her Clanmates. _Maybe I shouldn't have come after all. No one seems to want me here. _

Briarlight slumped her shoulders and pulled over to where Jayfeather was waiting. He seemed to recognize her emotions. "Don't worry Briarlight. Everything will be all right," She peered at him oddly. _When'd he get so caring? _"Nothing is alright when you're talking about my life," she retorted.

Jayfeather's blind eyes flashed. "I'm afraid you're right. Death is upon us,"

Briarlight stared at him, remembering that he couldn't tell. "W-what do you mean?" she asked warily, feeling her fur start to prickle.

"I'm so sorry..." he trailed off, and turned away. Briarlight pushed him on," Tell me!" If she didn't force him, he'd never speak of it again.

"T-the cat you saw last night in your dream?" "Yes..."

"He's not just any dream-figure, Briarlight. He is the Bringer of Death. His name is The Reaper."

Briarlight still didn't understand. "So? What does it mean that I saw, The Reaper?" she mewed, thinking of the odd name. Jayfeather stared her straight in the eye. "It means you are going to die."


	7. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6:**

"What!?" Briarlight nearly screeched. Jayfeather turned away and padded over to Lionblaze, his fur fluffing up.

_I can't take this nonsense anymore! Jayfeather's crazy, and everyone knew it except for me. How could I be so foolish? There's no cat who appears before you die and takes your life! Someone in StarClan would've told me. _

By now, the whole Clan had passed over the stepping stones. Bramblestar led the way by the water's edge around WindClan's territory. The breeze from the lake warmed Briarlight's fur to the tip. The strong moonlight soothed the Clan, throwing away their worries. Squirrelflight stood right beside her mate, showing her loyalty to him. Jayfeather and Tigerpaw walked side by side behind Bramblestar and Squirrelflight. Cinderheart was on Tigerpaw's other side. Jayfeather and Cinderheart looked uncomfortable.

After a few moments of silence, a group of dark shapes came bounding over the ridge. Bramblestar stared at the cats as they padded down to them.

"Greetings, Onestar," Bramblestar greeted the WindClan leader. Onestar's brown tabby pelt glowed silver in the bright moonlight. He lowered his pale green eyes and meowed," Hello, Bramblestar"

Ashfoot, Onestar's deputy, dipped her head to Squirrelflight and Bramblestar. Ashfoot was getting old, she was older than most of the cats in her Clan, and was almost ready to join the elders and give up her deputy postition.

The WindClan cats looked at the ThunderClan cats, and then the two Clans padded on in silence. Briarlight spotted Bluepaw and the dark gray tabby apprentice walking side-by-side at the far end of the WindClan cats. She spat silently, remembering what he'd said to her a few days before.

The Clans walked in silence.

Finally, they reached the horseplace. The moon had climbed a bit higher now, and was almost to the highest point across the night sky. The gorse and heather of WindClan territory slowly dissolved. The Clan's scent faded, and then RiverClan's fishy smell clung to the marshes and reeds that followed.

The horseplace disappeared behind them. The island came into view, and then Onestar and his Clan started pelting torward it. Some of ThunderClan tryed to speed up as well, but Bramblestar and Squirrelflight stayed at the same speed. Briarlight sighed as WindClan bounded through the reeds to the fallen tree that led a path to the island, where the four Clans held Gatherings.

By the time ThunderClan reached the fallen tree, WindClan was already across and making their way through the undergrowth to the massive clearing, so big that all of the Clans could fit.

Bramblestar stepped aside to let Squirrelflight cross first. "Thanks!" she mewed, and then padded over. Bramblestar signaled to Jayfeather for him to go next. Jayfeather cast an angry glance at Cinderheart, and then picked up Tigerpaw by his scruff. Cinderheart gasped and stormed forward. Jayfeather padded, tail high, across the log.

When Cinderheart got to the front of the log, Jayfeather had already reached the other end. That didn't stop her from coming over to him though. She stomped across the tree. Briarlight sighed and followed Cinderheart. She was careful to balance her hind legs so they didn't drag her off.

With one last heaving effort, she reached the end of the log. Brackenfur and Lilydust were right behind her. The golden brown tabby tom hopped off, and Lilydust jumped onto the ground after him. Ivypool followed. Foxleap and Brightheart were next, and then Lionblaze and Thornclaw. Then, when Cherryleaf hopped onto the fallen tree, it rocked a bit from side-to-side.

She froze. She couldn't go back because Cloudtail was right behind her, blocking the exit. Briarlight pricked her ears, wondering what would happen next. The ginger she-cat's green eyes flashed with fright and worry. Moletuft, getting ready to board the log behind Cloudtail, yowled to his sister, and started pacing on the shore, trying to get a better view.

The log kept tipping, and then Cherryleaf lost her footing and her hind legs buckled, sending her flying into the water below. Moletuft screeched," Cherryleaf!" He looked ready to jump in after her, when all of the sudden a flash of white flew into the water.

It was Snowpaw.

"Snowpaw! What're you doing!?" Rainpaw yowled down to her friend.

Brightheart screamed in fear from beside Briarlight. She lashed her ginger and white tail, and then looked ready to fly in after the two cats. Cloudtail yowled from the log. They were both Snowpaw's parents. The water bubbled, and then Snowpaw appeared with Cherryleaf's scruff in his mouth. He dragged her to the shore, and pulled her out of the water.

Brightheart rushed over to where Snowpaw and Cherryleaf were. Briarlight dragged herself over, but didn't get too close. She didn't want to get in between a mother and her kit.

"Snowpaw! Why in the name of StarClan did you just do that?" She started licking her son's head fiercely. Cherryleaf started coughing up water, and then meowed to her savior," Thanks, Snowpaw," she coughed again.

"I-," he paused, looked at Cherryleaf, who was slowly picking herself up, and retorted," She's my Clanmate. I would've done it for anyone," he spat the word anyone, as if he was forcing himself to say it.

_Could Snowpaw have feelings for Cherryleaf?_

Cloudtail rushed over the log, not caring that it was still rocking. He sprinted over to his son. Briarlight didn't really have an interest in what Cloudtail would say. They would lecture him, see reason, and then go their separate ways. End of story.

Moletuft raced over the log next, and then slower, Birchfall, then Berrynose, then Toadstep, then Bumblestripe. Seedbriar jumped off and joined Lilydust after the pale gray and black striped tom. Rainpaw paced carefully over, visibly trembling. Stormpaw padded behind her. Bramblestar nodded at the empty space where his Clanmates had just been, and then bounded across after the apprentices.

Cherryleaf had now almost completely dryed herself off. Moletuft was watching her with worry in his amber eyes. Briarlight sighed in relief as Bramblestar led the Clan through the undergrowth to the clearing. Snowpaw was clearly staring at Cherryleaf now. She could tell without even looking at him. The ginger she-cat didn't seem to notice. She padded along with her brother, clearly freezing. Berrynose, Cherryleaf's father, walked along with them, and kept glancing at his daughter, making sure she was alright.

Finally, ThunderClan reached the clearing. WindClan and RiverClan were already gathered in the middle. Onestar and Mistystar, RiverClan's leader, were perched in the tree that the Clan leaders sat on while giving their reports. There was no sign of ShadowClan yet.

Bramblestar picked his way through the cats and jumped up beside Mistystar on the highest branch. Squirrelflight joined the deputies underneath the tree. Ashfoot from WindClan and Reedwhisker from RiverClan. Jayfeather padded through the croud with Tigerpaw. Briarlight followed him. Once they reached the rock where the medicine cats gathered, Jayfeather nodded to the others. Kestrelflight, the young mottled gray tom from WindClan, dipped his head to the ThunderClan medicine cat.

He'd just recently adopted Blackpaw as his apprentice. The young black she-cat nodded to Jayfeather and Tigerpaw. She'd become his apprentice at the last meeting of the medicine cats, which was a half moon ago. Willowshine, the RiverClan medicine cat, slowly nodded at Jayfeather, but was staring at Tigerpaw, who was looking around at the cats gathering under the tree where the leaders were.

Willowshine's mentor, Mothwing, had drowned a few days after the battle with the Dark Forest. She'd fallen into the lake, and was exhausted from collecting herbs. She never came up from the murky blackness of the lake. Willowshine had taken over as the official medicine cat ever since.

"Everyone, this is Tigerpaw, my apprentice. He's one of Lionblaze and Cinderheart's kits," Jayfeather introduced. He turned to Tigerpaw. "This is Kestrelflight, the WindClan medicine cat, and his apprentice, Blackpaw," Kestrelflight flicked his tail in acknowlegement. Blackpaw blinked at him.

"This is Willowshine, the RiverClan medicine cat," Willowshine tipped her head to him. "Nice to meet you, Tigerpaw," she meowed. Tigerpaw waved his tail. Kestrelflight padded up next to Briarlight," Hey. What's up in ThunderClan?" Kestrelflight was her friend, and they'd talked quite frequently at the previous Gatherings.

"Well, Lionblaze's kits became apprentices. Squirrelflight got Rainpaw, Spiderleg got Stormpaw, and Jayfeather got Tigerpaw. Nothing much," She looked at the entrance to the clearing and saw ShadowClan pouring through. Littlecloud and his apprentice, Mistcloud, padded through the cats. Mistcloud was the first to speak.

"Hey everyone!" She bounced up. She was quite hyper, and very optomistic. She'd been Littlecloud's newest apprentice since a few days after the Dark Forest battle. She was one of Kinkfur's kits, and shared her spiky fur. But, instead of brown tabby, like her mother, she was pale gray.

Mistcloud bounced up to Willowshine, her closest medicine cat friend.

Littlecloud walked up, panting. "S-sorry we're late, e-everyone," he paused to catch his breath. He was growing old too. He'd been around for even longer than Ashfoot. He was just three moons old when Firestar came into the forest. Littlecloud sat down next to Mistcloud once he'd settled down.

Briarlight grew bored, and got up. She looked around, and saw an open patch of grass behind where Icewing, a RiverClan warrior, and Starlingwing, a ShadowClan warrior, were talking.

She pulled into the spot, and found that it had a perfect view of the pine where the leaders sat. She laid down, positioning her legs to the side, so they'd be out of her way. Blackstar, the leader of ShadowClan, was sitting on the low branch next to Onestar. Mistystar and Bramblestar sat on the branch above them. Blackstar was the oldest leader out of all of them. He was growing old, and his white muzzle was flecked with dark gray specks, visible even from where Briarlight lay.

All of the deputies lay underneath the branch on the ground, except there was something wrong. Squirrelflight, Reedwhisker, and Ashfoot were all there. But Rowanclaw, the ShadowClan deputy, didn't seem to be present.

Briarlight could tell that some of the other Clan cats seemed to notice too. Sedgewhisker from WindClan was murmuring to Silverpaw, a RiverClan apprentice. Thornclaw looked curious as he sat a few rows up.

Then, a yowl from Onestar silenced the cats. Briarlight knew that that meant it was time to start the Gathering. The leaders had come up with a truce at the first Gathering after the Dark Forest battle. The truce was that, the leaders would take turns reporting first. The first leader to go was Bramblestar, since ThunderClan was the only Clan that lost their leader, Firestar.

Mistystar had gone at the last Gathering, and now it was Onestar's turn.

Once all of the cats had settled down, Onestar started to report.

"WindClan has been doing well this leaf-fall. We've been finding enough prey to feed our entire Clan. The rabbits seem to be running well. It looks like StarClan is rewarding us. We are, worthy, of this great food supply, after all" Briarlight heard the non-WindClan cats in the clearing growl in anger. Onestar stared satisfyingly at the massive group of cats below him.

"Our medicine cat, Kestrelflight, has a new apprentice, Blackpaw," The only voices that cheered Blackpaw's name were the WindClan warriors, and the RiverClan warriors. _Why're they cheering? Onestar insulted all of the Clans with that remark!_

The WindClan leader wasn't finished yet though. "Along with Blackpaw, we also have Icepaw, also a new warrior apprentice. She's training under Whitetail," Again, WindClan and RiverClan were the only ones that cheered. Onestar dipped his head to Bramblestar.

The dark tabby tom nodded. "ThunderClan's prey has also been running well. With leaf-bare, brings hard times. I believe that StarClan will bring us all through it. ThunderClan also has a new medicine cat apprentice, Tigerpaw. He will train under the guidance of Jayfeather," All of the Clans yowled," Tigerpaw! Tigerpaw! Tigerpaw!"

The new medicine cat apprentice looked embarrased at all of the attention. Cinderheart was yowling the loudest; her voice ringing in Briarlight's ears from behind her.

"Along with Tigerpaw, his brother, Stormpaw, and his sister, Rainpaw, have also started their training. Stormpaw has Spiderleg and Rainpaw has Squirrelflight," the Clans cheered the new apprentices' names. Bramblestar backed away and flicked his tail at Mistystar.

The gray she-cat dipped her head to him and stood up on their branch. "RiverClan has been having troubles finding prey recently," Briarlight could tell that Mistystar was forcing out the words, struggling to announce to all of the Clans her Clan's weakness. "And that's why we've decided that RiverClan is allying with WindClan," Gasps of shock from ThunderClan and ShadowClan followed. Onestar nodded at Mistystar.

"We are doing it for the sake of our Clan," Mistystar continued." We will be erasing our Clans' border, and we will become one. If ThunderClan or ShadowClan tries to pick a fight with either one of us, they will feel both of our claws." Blackstar hissed at the RiverClan leader, and Onestar unsheathed his claws from beside him. "Didn't you hear her? You'll feel both of our claws, old flea-bag!"

Bramblestar looked uncomfortable beside all three argueing cats. Briarlight flicked her ear and saw that no clouds were being sent to cover the moon yet. _Where are you, StarClan?_, she wondered silently.

ThunderClan's leader seemed to gather up courage. "Stop! There's a truce!" Mistystar and Blackstar reluctantly stopped fighting and paused. Onestar still had his claws unsteathed, and his lips were pulled back in a vicious snarl. "Onestar, the truce. Blackstar and I understand that we cannot undo what you've done. So, RiverClan and WindClan are allies on our behalf," Onestar glared at Bramblestar, and then returned to his normal position.

Mistystar nodded at Blackstar. The old white tom stood up, his massive black paws standing out on his pure white pelt.

"ShadowClan has two new warriors, Sparrowpaw and Dewpaw are now Sparrowshade and Dewfern." The Clans broke out in cheering, all of the Clans except WindClan. The ShadowClan new warriors held their heads proudly.

Blackstar had oblivously noticed that many cats were whispering about Rowanclaw. He blinked his round amber eyes.

"I see that you are all wondering why Rowanclaw is not present. Recently, ShadowClan has seen greencough in our camp. He and Snaketail, one of our elders, were taken by the illness," murmuring erupted from the Clans. Onestar looked satisfyed with himself, his pale green eyes staring at the sky with cleverness.

"It is a sad but unruly truth. On the night of Rowanclaw's death, as permitted by the warrior code, I appointed ShadowClan's new deputy, Tawnypelt,"

"What?! She's not fit to be deputy!" Owlwhisker, a WindClan warrior, yowled from beside Briarlight. Tawnypelt padded underneath the tree with her head held high, and sat down beside Squirrelflight. Reedwhisker and Ashfoot looked angrily at the tortoiseshell she-cat.

"She's a queen! Barely even a fighting warrior," Rushtail, a RiverClan warrior, yowled from somewhere in the front of the crowd. Even Bramblestar looked surprised. After all, Bramblestar and Tawnypelt were littermates. When Tawnypelt was just an apprentice, she gave in to Tigerstar's rule, and went to join ShadowClan. Bramblestar stayed true to ThunderClan, and remained there.

Blackstar's eyes flashed, and he gave a screech that shook the island silent. "You all do not have a say in who I choose for my deputy! Tawnypelt is as good a warrior as any of you, even better!" Before the ShadowClan leader could say anymore, a huge black cloud blocked out the moonlight, signaling StarClan's disaproval of this argueing.

The leaders stared in fright at the dark night sky. Bramblestar jumped from the branch, and surged through the cats, his Clan following. Briarlight got up and followed her leader through the undergrowth, still feeling shaken from Blackstar's fury.

Once the whole Clan had made it across the log, they raced across RiverClan's wet marshland. Briarlight was sure that her whole stomach was caked in mud by the time they reached WindClan's territory. Bramblestar and Squirrelflight gained speed as they reached the dry, hard moor of WindClan. Briarlight found that she was falling behind. The only two cats behind her now were Bumblestripe and Toadstep. And Bumblestripe was already passing her up.

Briarlight started panting.

Finally, ThunderClan reached the river separating them from WindClan. Squirrelflight crossed first, and then Jayfeather and Tigerpaw, and then the rest of the warriors. Briarlight crossed after Ivypool. This time, she went faster, and still didn't get her hind legs wet. Bramblestar slowed his warriors down once they'd reached ThunderClan territory.

Briarlight felt her tired lungs gasping for air, and she gulped it in like she'd never seen it in days. Even as she settled down, an unsettling feeling hung in the air. It grew stronger as they padded on through their familiar ThunderClan forest. Her Clanmates seemed to notice too.

Foxleap appeared beside her and meowed," What's that scent? Something's wrong in the camp, I can feel it." he meowed. Briarlight didn't respond.

Finally, they reached the camp entrance. The Clan filed through. When it was Briarlight's turn, she squeezed in, and appeared in the clearing. The cats who didn't go to the Gathering were huddled around something by the other camp entrance.

Briarlight dragged herself over to see what they were investigating. The scent of death and crow-food was overwhelmingly strong, clogging her nose and making her eyes water.

She poked through, hearing whispers and hisses of mystery.

When she reached the front of the small crowd of cats, she was shocked. Shocked so much that her mouth fell open, and her eyes widened until she had to blink.

There, lying perfectly in front of the camp entrance, was the carcuss of one of ThunderClan's most loyal and dedicated warriors, Spiderleg.


	8. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7:**

Briarlight was in shock. She blinked twice, staring at her forever-silent Clanmate. She barely had enough time to stare in surprise when Dustpelt pushed to the front of the crowd.

"Spiderleg!" he croaked. Age was dawning on the old tom, and his muzzle was completely gray, forcing back the dark brown tabby fur that engulfed the rest of his body. Briarlight pulled herself back out of the crowd. Too many things had happened that night. She was still in shock about the allegiance between the two Clans that had the least in common, WindClan and RiverClan.

_I wonder how Onestar and Mistystar managed to work that out, _she muttered silently. Bramblestar was standing on Highledge, Squirrelflight next to him, as always.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath Highledge for a Clan meeting!" Every Clan cat was already assembled below, so Bramblestar got immediatly to the talking.

Jayfeather and Tigerpaw sat down right underneath the ledge. Leafpool and Sorreltail reluctantly pulled away from Spiderleg, followed by the rest of the cats who had come to investigate the dead tom's body.

"As most of you have already heard, our warrior, Spiderleg, has been found dead," he turned to the part of his Clan that had stayed behind at the camp while the Gathering took place. "Can any of you explain what has happened here?" he flicked his tail acknowledging Hazeltail, who had stepped up to Highledge and was already looking down upon the cats.

"Well, all of us were settling down, right after you left camp. Everyone went to their nests, and it seemed silent and peaceful in our territory. Then, Spiderleg said that he had to go use the dirtplace, so we let him go, without a worry in the world," Briarlight could tell that Hazeltail was struggling with the words, apparently still in surprise about Spiderleg's death.

"We all waited and waited for Spiderleg to come back. Then, I got tired of waiting for him to return to the warriors' den, so I got up and went to the dirtplace to find him,"

The whole Clan fell silent, even the warriors who already knew what would happen. Apparently, Hazeltail was good with suspense.

"When I walked to the dirtplace, he wasn't there. I looked around for him, and there wasn't even any sign that he'd even been there. So, I padded out of the dirtplace, and as I was heading back to the warriors' den to tell the rest of the Clan, I saw a dark shape lying in front of the camp entrance to the abandoned Thunderpath. I walked over, curiousity getting the best of me, and found Spiderleg. He was lying perfectly in front of the entrance, not a single scratch on him. He looked like he'd just laid down to die!"

The she-cats' voice rose to a pitiful squeal, and she flicked her tail dissmissively at Bramblestar, and then pelted down the slope and ran to Daisy, her mother, in the back of the crowd. Bramblestar took Hazeltail's place at the end of Highledge, and meowed," As Hazeltail has told us, Spiderleg seems untouched. Jayfeather, have you examined the body yet?"

The gray tabby flicked his tail, and padded over to Spiderleg, and started examining. When he was finished, he turned back toward Bramblestar.

"Hazeltail speaks the truth. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him. Battle-scar wise anyway," he padded back to his spot next to Tigerpaw.

"This is a mystery that everyone in the Clan must help to solve. Spiderleg was a trustworthy and loyal warrior, one that had many more seasons of life. He had no reason to die now," his amber eyes scoured his Clan. He looked ready to launch himself into the group of cats, but then pulled back his head in reason.

"This is a tough mystery, one that can wait until tomorrow. But for tonight, we will prepare Spiderleg for his vigil. Every cat that was close to him in some way, may sit with him for tonight. Tomorrow morning, the elders may take his body away for burial"

Briarlight watched the leader sigh, and then retreat into his den with Squirrelflight hard on his paws.

Dustpelt was first to sit down next to Spiderleg, who had been moved to the middle of the camp. Birchfall, Foxleap, Icecloud, and Mousewhisker came to join him. Stormpaw, Spiderleg's apprentice, looked grief stricken, even though he'd only been his apprentice for less than a moon. Briarlight felt guilty as she dragged herself to the medicine den past Foxleap, who glanced at her a few times.

She rounded the corner and padded past the nests until she found hers. Tigerpaw was already in his nest, but Jayfeather was still up sorting herbs, his back to her. "Jayfeather? It's time to get some rest. It's already past moonhi-" she paused, he wasn't even listening to her. "Jayfeather!"

He still kept sorting herbs.

Briarlight shuddered and felt a chill pass through her pelt. The moonlight in the den faded, leaving blackness to cover the entire medicine den. Jayfeather's gray pelt was barely visible besides a faint glow from the brightness tinted into his fur. Tigerpaw started snoring, sound asleep. Briarlight felt her only working paws rooted to the ground.

Jayfeather kept his place, sorting herbs together like nothing had changed. Briarlight felt another chill pass through her body. _Jayfeather? Are you alright? _she itched to meow, but then, realizing she was acting like a kit, straightened up. _How could I have been so mouse-brained? He's blind, of course he doesn't notice that the moonlight faded, _she thought in reasurance. _But, why didn't he answer me?_

Briarlight knew that she wouldn't be able to go to sleep unless Jayfeather was alseep too. She puffed out her chest fur and meowed firmly," Jayfeather! You have to go to sleep, now!" she reached out a paw to his shoulder. At the slightest touch from her paw, he whipped around. Everything went dark in the den, in the camp, in the forest. But, before everything went black, there was one last image from Jayfeather's face that was stuck in her memory.

His whole face was bare with some black patches of fur. The eyes, violet with black slit pupils. His ears, cut and torn, with crusted blood around the edges of the scratches. But, his mouth was what made everything turn to dark.

It was a round, black, bottomless hole, with jagged, sharp teeth pointing around the edge of it. Then, nothing else came to mind, as she sank down to the ground, seeing nothing but it in her head.

Briarlight awoke to loud, frightened voices. She opened her eyes, and the faces were a blur. A cat with gray tabby fur and another cat with light brown tabby fur were peering down at her. They were too blurry to pick out names. She blinked drowsily, feeling sleep calling to her, and sunk back down.

When she awakened again, she was standing in the middle of a sunny clearing in a forest, which had the strong scent of prey-season. She turned around a few times, and found that she had the use of her hind legs again. It felt odd, being able to walk around without her belly rubbing against the ground, but good at the same time.

Briarlight padded around for a moment, trying to catch a scent of someone who'd brought her here. It had to be StarClan. No place else in existence was as beautiful and sun-warmed as it.

Then, a voice from behind caught her attention. "My, my, I see you've found your way to StarClan, young one," Briarlight turned around and saw a young white she-cat with glistening blue eyes padding out of the trees. "Do you plan to stay?" the she-cat asked.

"Umm, I don't really know what I'm doing here. I guess I passed out back in my Clan..." "And what Clan do you come from, young warrior?" the she-cat interrupted. Briarlight couldn't stand cats who interrupted, but tried to not let it bother her this time.

"I-I come from ThunderClan," she mewed warily.

"Oh! That's my birthClan too!" the white cat yelped cheerfully. Briarlight nodded, and then got back to her story. "Well, I passed out after seeing... a-a disturbing sight, and then I woke up here," she decided not to mention the part about Jayfeather, and hoped the white cat wouldn't bring it up.

"Well, do you plan to stay here, in StarClan?" she asked Briarlight. "No! I've still got my whole life to live! It's not my time to walk with our ancestors yet!" she retorted sharply. The she-cat nodded, and then flicked her tail. "Uhh, what's your name, by chance?" she asked Briarlight again.

"My name is Briarlight, the ThunderClan medicine cat assistant!" she raised her voice, showing that she wasn't afraid of the she-cat, even though she feared for what would happen to her now.

The cat nodded. "My name is Snowfur. Come, Briarlight. I know why you are here now. Follow me," Briarlight warily followed Snowfur.

As they both padded through the forest, Briarlight found it wonderful to be able to walk on all four paws. Feeling the cool breeze on her belly and legs, and the gracefulness of swerving through the undergrowth without doubt of if she'd be able to make it or not. Snowfur seemed to take notice, and brought up a conversation.

"So, Briarlight, who are your parents? I may know them. I know you have heard of my sister, that's for sure." Briarlight flicked her ear, and cheerfully padded over a sharp thorn branch that had fallen onto the ground. "My mother's name is Millie, she was a kittypet, but then my father, Graystripe, found her and brought her to ThunderClan."

"Oh! So you're related to that rascal, Graystripe, huh? He's had quite a life, I can tell you that. He's an elder now, right?" Snowfur asked. "Yeah. But he's still the best cat in ThunderClan!" Briarlight yowled as she happily bounded over a log.

Briarlight caught up to Snowfur. "Who's your sister? Do I know her?"

"Oh, who doesn't know her?" Briarlight flicked her ear in confusion. "Uhh, me? Please just tell me!" she asked impatiently. Snowfur sighed and turned to Briarlight. "My sister's name is Bluestar."

"Really? I didn't know Bluestar had a sister," Briarlight meowed as the two cats reached a clearing. "Yes..." Snowfur mewed quietly. The white she-cat stopped in the middle of the clearing, and then stepped aside to show three cats standing there. The biggest one was Firestar, known widely throughout StarClan for his flame-colored pelt. The smaller she-cat standing next to him was Cinderpelt, the cat who'd given Briarlight the confusing prophecy.

The last cat was Yellowfang, her ragged, knotted dark gray fur and flattened muzzle giving away her identity at first glance.

Snowfur flicked her tail and then started to pad away. Firestar called to her," Snowfur! Why don't you stay here? You've done more than a good job bringing Briarlight here in the first place." Snowfur turned around, and then sat down next to Firestar, and looked at Briarlight like all of them were already doing.

Finally, Cinderpelt broke the silence. "Briarlight, we have been sending you signs over and over again," the old ThunderClan medicine cat meowed. Yellowfang joined in after her apprentice," Now, it is time you tell us what you have predicted will happen,"

"Based on these signs," Firestar mewed. Snowfur flicked her tail at Briarlight, telling her to speak.

"Well, you showed me the dark cloud sign. The shadow from the cloud blocked out the sun for a moment, and then sunlight came back through. I think this meant that something terrible will happen, and then good things will reappear after it," Yellowfang nodded, and then meowed," what other signs did you recieve?"

"I was visited by you all, and then Cinderpelt gave me that confusing prophecy," Briarlight reported. Cinderpelt joined in afterward.

"If you paid more attention to your Clanmates, then you might understand," the dark gray she-cat meowed. _Well that really makes it more clear, _Briarlight thought with a flick of her ear. Snowfur looked confused, and was flicking her tail tip back and forth. Briarlight cast her eyes over to Bluestar's sister.

"Is there something wrong, Snowfur?" she asked warily. The white she-cat shook her head a few times, as if to clear the trance she was in. "No, it's just, I saw you flick your ear,"

"Well, yeah. It's a habit. It happens at random times. I don't really have a lot of control over it," Snowfur lowered her gaze to her paws.

"I used to know a cat who did that too..."

"Who?" Briarlight was curious now. She'd never really cared about her ear-flicking habit before. Sometimes she never even noticed it. But to have a StarClan cat, as old as Bluestar, question it? It had to be something special.

Snowfur opened her mouth to speak, but then Firestar stopped her. "I'm sorry, Briarlight. It looks like we're out of time here," He got to his paws. Yellowfang, Snowfur, and Cinderpelt did the same. Briarlight took a step forward. "B-but who's the cat? I want to know," she could already hear her voice echoing in her mind. The four cats in front of her faded, along with the lush, green, prey-filled forest behind.

Then, Briarlight opened her eyes, and saw the medicine den wall in front of her face. She felt that she no longer had the use of her hind legs again. She slumped down in her nest, which she could tell it was by her own scent. Someone had laid her down in the nest, and Briarlight was grateful for it.

_I really need some help, _she thought with a relaxing sigh. _There's too much to worry about now. Too many things for one cat, especially one with only two working paws, to get through. What ever happened to those good old days? Running around with Thornclaw, training and hunting for my Clan. Not a doubt that my life would take a change for the worst. _

With that last thought in mind. Briarlight drifted off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 9: **

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath Highledge for a Clan meeting!" Squirrelflight called. It had been only two sunrises since the attack with the two rogues. Squirrelflight had sort of taken over as the Clan leader since Bramblestar had lost his eighth life. He'd been resting in the medicine den since.

Briarlight dragged herself from the camp entrance, where she'd been collecting burdock root for Jayfeather. The sour taste of the roots in her mouth made her gag, and she longed to drop them in the den and never taste it again. Briarlight padded across camp and into the warm medicine-scented den.

When Briarlight came in, Jayfeather was no where to be seen. She dropped the burdock root on the ground, and stared in shock and annoyance at the two kits bouncing around the sleeping Bramblestar.

"Sunkit! Shadowkit! Get out of the medicine den right now!" The two kits glanced at Briarlight, but kept prodding the Clan leader in the side. Shadowkit, with his dark black pelt, almost blended in to Bramblestar's dark tabby fur, but Sunkit stood out broadly with her cream and white pelt. She pulled up to Sunkit, who seemed to be leading her brother, and grabbed the little she-kit by her scruff.

"Oww! Put me down!" she squealed, as Briarlight dragged her out of the den and dropped her in front of the bramble screen. She looked behind her and saw that Shadowkit was padding sulkily behind.

Briarlight looked around for Daisy, and saw her sitting next to Blossomfall in front of the Nursery. Briarlight nudged Sunkit and Shadowkit toward their mother.

Squirrelflight was still standing on Highledge, waiting for the rest of ThunderClan to assemble. Briarlight had time before the meeting started. The dawn patrol still had to return.

"Sunkit! Shadowkit! There you are!" Daisy looked relieved, and padded forward to meet her kits. She blinked gratefully at Briarlight as she pushed the two squirming bundles toward Daisy. The two kits rushed past their mother and straight into the Nursery. Daisy flicked her tail and padded into the den.

Briarlight turned around and settled down in between Icecloud and Moletuft. She looked up at the fiery ginger pelt of Squirrelflight. The she-cat's pelt burned like fire in the sunlight, and Briarlight couldn't help but think that Squirrelflight's fur burned just as brightly as Firestar's, the deputy's father and the previous ThunderClan leader. Firestar had lost his ninth life in the Dark Forest battle just 8 moons ago.

Rustling in the camp entrance snapped Briarlight out of her thoughts. Looking through the assembling Clan in the ThunderClan clearing, she picked out the returning dawn patrols. The first dawn patrol, sent to patrol the ShadowClan and lake border, was Brackenfur, Sorreltail, Birchfall, and Dewpaw. They looked surprised and embarrased to be coming when the camp was gathering for a meeting, but quickly took open spots on the dirt ground.

A few moments later, the second dawn patrol came bustling through, consisting of Cloudtail, Thornclaw, Foxleap, and Cherryleaf. Their fur looked matted and they were panting hard, the whites of their eyes showing visibly, even through the large crowd of cats.

Cherryleaf pelted up the Highledge, ignoring the angry murmurings from her Clanmates below.

Squirrelflight turned to the ginger she-cat, not seeming to mind that it was disrespectful to interrupt a Clan meeting, even though Briarlight knew it hadn't even started yet.

Cherryleaf whispered something urgent to Squirrelflight. Briarlight watched the deputy's expression change from amused to serious and even worryed. The ginger she-cat pulled away and watched Squirrelflight gather herself and yowl loudly to the Clan, silencing them.

"I have just recieved news of a rogue scent on the border with unknown territory. I believe that this has something to do with those two rogues who attacked our camp two sunrises ago," she paused, and watched the Clan with searching eyes. Icecloud whispered to Rosepetal next to her," I hate those stupid rogues! Why are they bothering us so much? We've done no harm to them!"

Rosepetal's amber eyes flashed in anger and she hissed," When I get my claws on those cats I'll rip their pelts off, one hair at a time!" Briarlight leaned back in shock. _These rogues really do have a fight to pick with ThunderClan. And it looks as if it's not going to be settled by reasoning, like Firestar would've done. Bramblestar wouldn't have wanted a fight like this! But with Squirrelflight as our temporary leader, ThunderClan's future seems filled with the spilled blood of _our_ warriors._

The Clan broke out in angry yowls.

"Those rogues need to be taught a lesson!" shouted Cloudtail.

"They can't defend themselves forever! There's only two of em'!" Berrynose yowled.

Squirrelflight didn't bother quieting her Clan. She even seemed to enjoy the power of leading them. _Sorry Squirrelflight. I'm fine with Bramblestar as our leader, _Briarlight thought sourly.

"Cherryleaf and Foxleap will lead a patrol out to where they found the scent, and tomorrow at dawn, we will attack those two rogues, after we find where they're staying. It can't be that far from our territory!" Squirrelflight's voice was so full of anger and hostility, Briarlight got up and padded over to Jayfeather and Tigerpaw sitting in front of the bramble screen. She settled down, paws tucked under her chest, and mewed to Jayfeather," I hope Bramblestar gets better before Squirrelflight gets worse."

Jayfeather stared on. "She seems different the past few days. Ever since she's had to take over Bramblestar's duty as our leader, she seems to want power and more power over us. I agree, we have to cure him." Jayfeather flicked his tail at the group of yowling, battle-hungry cats.

"Take a warrior and go gather all of the herbs you can find. Any herb will do. But if you do find any poppy seed, collect as much as you can. We're running low, and I've given some to Bramblestar already. It's helping him some, but thyme is helping a lot. We have a full stock of that, so don't bother collecting more."

Briarlight nodded and got to her two working paws. She scanned the Clan, and found that Toadstep wasn't cheering for Squirrelflight, but was instead muttering sourly to Blossomfall at the Nursery entrance. Briarlight didn't want her sister to think she was stealing her mate, but Toadstep was one of the only cats not yowling hungrily for battle.

"Hey! Toadstep!" Briarlight called, not feeling like dragging herself all the way across camp, and all the way back.

Toadstep flicked his head up quickly, and turned his head, confused. Briarlight opened her mouth to explain, but the yowling cats grew louder as Squirrelflight assigned her patrol to check out the scent.

Briarlight stared intently at the black and white tom, and nodded to the medicine den, and then the camp entrance leading to the ShadowClan border. Toadstep blinked, understanding, and then licked Blossomfall on the cheek affectionetly, and finally padded over to Briarlight.

"We just need to collect herbs from the ShadowClan and lake borders. I'd like you to come with me, okay?" when Toadstep looked unsure, and glanced at Blossomfall again, Briarlight added," it's Jayfeather's order. Sorry!"

Toadstep nodded approvingly with his warm amber eyes, and then followed Briarlight out of camp, and through the entrance.

Once out of camp, the two cats padded down the cracked, weed-filled Thunderpath. It was no longer used for actual monsters, but Briarlight still felt frightened while dragging herself along it.

Toadstep padded warily next to her. "I still get the chills when I come this way. It's just so shocking that monsters actually padded along this same Thunderpath a while ago. I wonder how long ago that was?" Briarlight nodded, and felt a chilly breeze rush across the Thunderpath. She shivered, and stopped, glancing around, and then found the familiar abandoned twoleg den. ShadowClan's nearest border was just beyond that.

"It had to be a while ago. Even that terrible fume of those stinking monsters has faded away." she mewed, watching the slowly setting sun sink to the tops of the pine trees towering above the oaks and maples of ThunderClan's forest. ShadowClan lived in the pine forest, and it was a wonder they hadn't had nettle-filled paws within a half moon!

Toadstep snorted, and slowed, purring quietly. Briarlight stopped and watched him," what's so funny?" she asked.

"Maybe the monsters were still driving along this Thunderpath when Dustpelt was a kit!" Briarlight chuckled along with him, and mewed," Holy StarClan! That _was _a long time ago!" Toadstep purred with laughter, and Briarlight joined in with him. _No wonder Blossomfall loves him. He sure has a good sense of humor!_

Briarlight and Toadstep padded down off of the Thunderpath and into the warm, prey-filled forest. Within a few paw-steps, the luring, delicious scent of poppy seeds caught Briarlight off track. She stopped dead in her tracks, and didn't wait for Toadstep to follow her farther along ThunderClan's border with ShadowClan.

The loud rustling of plants told Briarlight that Toadstep was now following her again. "Get something?" he meowed, glancing around worridly, as if a patrol of blood-thirsty ShadowClan cats were to come leaping over the ferns and attack them off guard.

"Poppy seeds. It was Jayfeather's highest priority to get them. They'll help soothe Bramblestar, and hopefully cure him within a few sunrises." she mewed, emerging at a slim strech of grass, before the land curved down to sand, and then to the cool blue river that was the border between ThunderClan and ShadowClan.

Toadstep lifted his head, catching a scent, and then bounded up the riverbed, toward the small clearing that had been fought over many times between the two bordering Clans. For now, it was ThunderClan's territory. Briarlight followed the scent of poppy seeds, until her nose led her right to a large bed of dry poppy flowers.

"Thank StarClan!" she mewed to herself, sending up a silent prayer to their warrior ancestors.

Briarlight quickly shook the dryed leaves with one paw, and felt satisfying glory as four black seeds fell out into her other paw. She gathered as much as was in the poppy flowers, and set them down on the sand next to a rock, which separated the river from the pile of seeds. Briarlight then realized, she couldn't carry all of these poppy seeds back to camp! They were too small for paws and two easy to swallow with her mouth.

Briarlight looked around nervously, wondering how to carry the seeds to camp. Then she spotted a large, reddish yellow oak leaf lying on the ground by a clump of ferns by the riverbed part where grass turned to sand.

_Maybe if I fold the leaf up, put the poppy seeds inside, and then close the tops shut with something, I can just carry them back to camp all at once!_

It was a perfect idea! But, she'd need some help from Toadstep. "Hey! Toadstep! Toadstep, come here! I need your help!" she called up the river to where the black and white tom had disappeared to. After a few moments, Toadstep came bounding down the sloping hill that led up to a flat, grassy clearing, which had been fought over between the two bordering Clans.

"Yeah, Briarlight?" he meowed, and stopped in front of her. "I have an idea on how to get these poppy seeds back to camp. I just need you to find something sticky." Briarlight mewed.

"Sticky?" he retorted, with a doubtful edge to his voice. "Yeah. Like, tree sap or something." she meowed, grabbing the oak leaf and dropping it, spread out, next to the pile of poppy seeds.

Toadstep sighed in doubt and plodded off into the forest toward the lake.

Briarlight piled up the seeds onto the wide oak leaf, and then grabbed the sides of it with her mouth, pulling them up into one line of leaf. She made sure it was going to hold by holding it up with her teeth for a few seconds, and then Toadstep came bustling through the bushes. He came the same he had left, empty pawed.

"Briarlight, I-" he paused to breath, as if he'd been running. "Where's the tree sap? I told you to find some, Toadstep!" she meowed, feeling angry.

"I'm sorry, but I saw something-" he sat down and panted, slowing his breaths until he could breath normally. Briarlight waited impatiently, her ear twitched.

"Two ShadowClan apprentices and a warrior, hunting on our territory at the edge of the lake!" Briarlight almost dropped the sack of poppy seeds. She held them out for Toadstep to take. He looked confused, but then grabbed it and looked at her, waiting for an explanation.

"Take it back to camp. Just give it to Jayfeather, and then get a patrol of cats. Go!" she hissed. Toadstep didn't question it, just ran off with the sack.

Briarlight marched angrily down the river, next to the sand. She kept sniffing the air, and finally caught the scent of the three ShadowClan cats. She looked around for them, and finally found them hunting right next to the lake. She recogized Pinenose as the warrior. Only one apprentice was there, Larkpaw, Pinenose's daughter. Pinenose also had a son, Adderpaw. His scent was strong, but he was not around here.

Briarlight hissed silently, and watched Pinenose purr with admiration as she watched Larkpaw pad back to her with a plump mouse in his mouth. Pinenose shrieked in delight and meowed," ThunderClan has better prey than we thought! We should've come here sooner when we needed food last moon when greencough came!"

_You'd better not come back here!_ Briarlight wanted to screech out loud, but knew that she must wait for Toadstep's patrol to come.

Suddenly, cats burst threw the thorn bushes surrounding one side of the clearing, and Briarlight recognized ThunderClan's warriors and apprentices. Toadstep was in the lead, followed by Brackenfur, Cloudtail, Sorreltail, Leafpool, Squirrelflight, Bumblestripe, Dewpaw, and Rainpaw. All of them had claws unsheathed. Briarlight emerged from behind Pinenose, and hissed loudly, baring her teeth.

Pinenose jumped and was pushed back against the last tree until the ground led down to the lake. Larkpaw mewed in anger and surprise and dropped her mouse, backing up until she was in front of Pinenose.

_Ha! Stupid ShadowClan thinks they can mess with ThunderClan! Our Clan is the most feared in the forest, and no Clan can beat us!_

Briarlight hung back while Squirrelflight's back fur rose and she hissed, the pupils of her eyes turning to tiny black slits. She suddenly remembered the two rogues. She couldn't help the feeling that it wasn't the last they'd seen of them.

Squirrelflight yowled," ShadowClan just doesn't learn, do they?" Pinenose gulped, and Larkpaw was trembling. Suddenly, the world around her flashed in whiteness, and then the scene Briarlight had just been in changed, and the grass was littered and soaked in blood.

Briarlight backed up, and saw that the cats around her had changed too. Squirrelflight was soaked in blood, her eyes, round black holes, with thin slits of red. Her Clanmates were soaked in blood and were covered with terrible battle scars. Pinenose was torn apart, her eyes hanging out of their sockets by terrible pink veins.

Briarlight choked with the sudden urge to throw up. Larkpaw had a leg missing, and in its place was a disgusting bloody red bone.

"No!" she shrieked. Then, as if nothing else could be more terrible, the sky cracked with a sharp bang of thunder. The whole world went quiet, and then as Briarlight looked around, wondering if anything else could make her throw up her last meal, she made the mistake of looked down at her own paws. They seemed normal for a second, then she noticed a shadow looming on the blood-splattered grass.

Briarlight warily looked up into the violet eyes of the nightmere cat. His fur was bare and cream colored, with the occasional patch of black fur. He stared into her eyes. Briarlight couldn't draw her own eyes away.

The black-patched tom meowed slowly in a deep, slow voice," You should watch your step. Always look behind you. Because sometimes, death is only a tail length away... BRIARLIGHT!" his voice grew to a high, piercing screech, and Briarlight kept staring into his gazing violet eyes.

The last memory Briarlight had was of the tom's eyes turning to black, with tiny slits of red in the middle. He lifted his bare, bony tail, and her once-Clanmates yowled up to the bloody red sky. The tom shrieked at her before she sank to the ground,"You will die slowly, one by one!"


	10. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9: **

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath Highledge for a Clan meeting!" Squirrelflight called. It had been only two sunrises since the attack with the two rogues. Squirrelflight had sort of taken over as the Clan leader since Bramblestar had lost his eighth life. He'd been resting in the medicine den since.

Briarlight dragged herself from the camp entrance, where she'd been collecting burdock root for Jayfeather. The sour taste of the roots in her mouth made her gag, and she longed to drop them in the den and never taste it again. Briarlight padded across camp and into the warm medicine-scented den.

When Briarlight came in, Jayfeather was no where to be seen. She dropped the burdock root on the ground, and stared in shock and annoyance at the two kits bouncing around the sleeping Bramblestar.

"Sunkit! Shadowkit! Get out of the medicine den right now!" The two kits glanced at Briarlight, but kept prodding the Clan leader in the side. Shadowkit, with his dark black pelt, almost blended in to Bramblestar's dark tabby fur, but Sunkit stood out broadly with her cream and white pelt. She pulled up to Sunkit, who seemed to be leading her brother, and grabbed the little she-kit by her scruff.

"Oww! Put me down!" she squealed, as Briarlight dragged her out of the den and dropped her in front of the bramble screen. She looked behind her and saw that Shadowkit was padding sulkily behind.

Briarlight looked around for Daisy, and saw her sitting next to Blossomfall in front of the Nursery. Briarlight nudged Sunkit and Shadowkit toward their mother.

Squirrelflight was still standing on Highledge, waiting for the rest of ThunderClan to assemble. Briarlight had time before the meeting started. The dawn patrol still had to return.

"Sunkit! Shadowkit! There you are!" Daisy looked relieved, and padded forward to meet her kits. She blinked gratefully at Briarlight as she pushed the two squirming bundles toward Daisy. The two kits rushed past their mother and straight into the Nursery. Daisy flicked her tail and padded into the den.

Briarlight turned around and settled down in between Icecloud and Moletuft. She looked up at the fiery ginger pelt of Squirrelflight. The she-cat's pelt burned like fire in the sunlight, and Briarlight couldn't help but think that Squirrelflight's fur burned just as brightly as Firestar's, the deputy's father and the previous ThunderClan leader. Firestar had lost his ninth life in the Dark Forest battle just 8 moons ago.

Rustling in the camp entrance snapped Briarlight out of her thoughts. Looking through the assembling Clan in the ThunderClan clearing, she picked out the returning dawn patrols. The first dawn patrol, sent to patrol the ShadowClan and lake border, was Brackenfur, Sorreltail, Birchfall, and Dewpaw. They looked surprised and embarrased to be coming when the camp was gathering for a meeting, but quickly took open spots on the dirt ground.

A few moments later, the second dawn patrol came bustling through, consisting of Cloudtail, Thornclaw, Foxleap, and Cherryleaf. Their fur looked matted and they were panting hard, the whites of their eyes showing visibly, even through the large crowd of cats.

Cherryleaf pelted up the Highledge, ignoring the angry murmurings from her Clanmates below.

Squirrelflight turned to the ginger she-cat, not seeming to mind that it was disrespectful to interrupt a Clan meeting, even though Briarlight knew it hadn't even started yet.

Cherryleaf whispered something urgent to Squirrelflight. Briarlight watched the deputy's expression change from amused to serious and even worryed. The ginger she-cat pulled away and watched Squirrelflight gather herself and yowl loudly to the Clan, silencing them.

"I have just recieved news of a rogue scent on the border with unknown territory. I believe that this has something to do with those two rogues who attacked our camp two sunrises ago," she paused, and watched the Clan with searching eyes. Icecloud whispered to Rosepetal next to her," I hate those stupid rogues! Why are they bothering us so much? We've done no harm to them!"

Rosepetal's amber eyes flashed in anger and she hissed," When I get my claws on those cats I'll rip their pelts off, one hair at a time!" Briarlight leaned back in shock. _These rogues really do have a fight to pick with ThunderClan. And it looks as if it's not going to be settled by reasoning, like Firestar would've done. Bramblestar wouldn't have wanted a fight like this! But with Squirrelflight as our temporary leader, ThunderClan's future seems filled with the spilled blood of _our_ warriors._

The Clan broke out in angry yowls.

"Those rogues need to be taught a lesson!" shouted Cloudtail.

"They can't defend themselves forever! There's only two of em'!" Berrynose yowled.

Squirrelflight didn't bother quieting her Clan. She even seemed to enjoy the power of leading them. _Sorry Squirrelflight. I'm fine with Bramblestar as our leader, _Briarlight thought sourly.

"Cherryleaf and Foxleap will lead a patrol out to where they found the scent, and tomorrow at dawn, we will attack those two rogues, after we find where they're staying. It can't be that far from our territory!" Squirrelflight's voice was so full of anger and hostility, Briarlight got up and padded over to Jayfeather and Tigerpaw sitting in front of the bramble screen. She settled down, paws tucked under her chest, and mewed to Jayfeather," I hope Bramblestar gets better before Squirrelflight gets worse."

Jayfeather stared on. "She seems different the past few days. Ever since she's had to take over Bramblestar's duty as our leader, she seems to want power and more power over us. I agree, we have to cure him." Jayfeather flicked his tail at the group of yowling, battle-hungry cats.

"Take a warrior and go gather all of the herbs you can find. Any herb will do. But if you do find any poppy seed, collect as much as you can. We're running low, and I've given some to Bramblestar already. It's helping him some, but thyme is helping a lot. We have a full stock of that, so don't bother collecting more."

Briarlight nodded and got to her two working paws. She scanned the Clan, and found that Toadstep wasn't cheering for Squirrelflight, but was instead muttering sourly to Blossomfall at the Nursery entrance. Briarlight didn't want her sister to think she was stealing her mate, but Toadstep was one of the only cats not yowling hungrily for battle.

"Hey! Toadstep!" Briarlight called, not feeling like dragging herself all the way across camp, and all the way back.

Toadstep flicked his head up quickly, and turned his head, confused. Briarlight opened her mouth to explain, but the yowling cats grew louder as Squirrelflight assigned her patrol to check out the scent.

Briarlight stared intently at the black and white tom, and nodded to the medicine den, and then the camp entrance leading to the ShadowClan border. Toadstep blinked, understanding, and then licked Blossomfall on the cheek affectionetly, and finally padded over to Briarlight.

"We just need to collect herbs from the ShadowClan and lake borders. I'd like you to come with me, okay?" when Toadstep looked unsure, and glanced at Blossomfall again, Briarlight added," it's Jayfeather's order. Sorry!"

Toadstep nodded approvingly with his warm amber eyes, and then followed Briarlight out of camp, and through the entrance.

Once out of camp, the two cats padded down the cracked, weed-filled Thunderpath. It was no longer used for actual monsters, but Briarlight still felt frightened while dragging herself along it.

Toadstep padded warily next to her. "I still get the chills when I come this way. It's just so shocking that monsters actually padded along this same Thunderpath a while ago. I wonder how long ago that was?" Briarlight nodded, and felt a chilly breeze rush across the Thunderpath. She shivered, and stopped, glancing around, and then found the familiar abandoned twoleg den. ShadowClan's nearest border was just beyond that.

"It had to be a while ago. Even that terrible fume of those stinking monsters has faded away." she mewed, watching the slowly setting sun sink to the tops of the pine trees towering above the oaks and maples of ThunderClan's forest. ShadowClan lived in the pine forest, and it was a wonder they hadn't had nettle-filled paws within a half moon!

Toadstep snorted, and slowed, purring quietly. Briarlight stopped and watched him," what's so funny?" she asked.

"Maybe the monsters were still driving along this Thunderpath when Dustpelt was a kit!" Briarlight chuckled along with him, and mewed," Holy StarClan! That _was _a long time ago!" Toadstep purred with laughter, and Briarlight joined in with him. _No wonder Blossomfall loves him. He sure has a good sense of humor!_

Briarlight and Toadstep padded down off of the Thunderpath and into the warm, prey-filled forest. Within a few paw-steps, the luring, delicious scent of poppy seeds caught Briarlight off track. She stopped dead in her tracks, and didn't wait for Toadstep to follow her farther along ThunderClan's border with ShadowClan.

The loud rustling of plants told Briarlight that Toadstep was now following her again. "Get something?" he meowed, glancing around worridly, as if a patrol of blood-thirsty ShadowClan cats were to come leaping over the ferns and attack them off guard.

"Poppy seeds. It was Jayfeather's highest priority to get them. They'll help soothe Bramblestar, and hopefully cure him within a few sunrises." she mewed, emerging at a slim strech of grass, before the land curved down to sand, and then to the cool blue river that was the border between ThunderClan and ShadowClan.

Toadstep lifted his head, catching a scent, and then bounded up the riverbed, toward the small clearing that had been fought over many times between the two bordering Clans. For now, it was ThunderClan's territory. Briarlight followed the scent of poppy seeds, until her nose led her right to a large bed of dry poppy flowers.

"Thank StarClan!" she mewed to herself, sending up a silent prayer to their warrior ancestors.

Briarlight quickly shook the dryed leaves with one paw, and felt satisfying glory as four black seeds fell out into her other paw. She gathered as much as was in the poppy flowers, and set them down on the sand next to a rock, which separated the river from the pile of seeds. Briarlight then realized, she couldn't carry all of these poppy seeds back to camp! They were too small for paws and two easy to swallow with her mouth.

Briarlight looked around nervously, wondering how to carry the seeds to camp. Then she spotted a large, reddish yellow oak leaf lying on the ground by a clump of ferns by the riverbed part where grass turned to sand.

_Maybe if I fold the leaf up, put the poppy seeds inside, and then close the tops shut with something, I can just carry them back to camp all at once!_

It was a perfect idea! But, she'd need some help from Toadstep. "Hey! Toadstep! Toadstep, come here! I need your help!" she called up the river to where the black and white tom had disappeared to. After a few moments, Toadstep came bounding down the sloping hill that led up to a flat, grassy clearing, which had been fought over between the two bordering Clans.

"Yeah, Briarlight?" he meowed, and stopped in front of her. "I have an idea on how to get these poppy seeds back to camp. I just need you to find something sticky." Briarlight mewed.

"Sticky?" he retorted, with a doubtful edge to his voice. "Yeah. Like, tree sap or something." she meowed, grabbing the oak leaf and dropping it, spread out, next to the pile of poppy seeds.

Toadstep sighed in doubt and plodded off into the forest toward the lake.

Briarlight piled up the seeds onto the wide oak leaf, and then grabbed the sides of it with her mouth, pulling them up into one line of leaf. She made sure it was going to hold by holding it up with her teeth for a few seconds, and then Toadstep came bustling through the bushes. He came the same he had left, empty pawed.

"Briarlight, I-" he paused to breath, as if he'd been running. "Where's the tree sap? I told you to find some, Toadstep!" she meowed, feeling angry.

"I'm sorry, but I saw something-" he sat down and panted, slowing his breaths until he could breath normally. Briarlight waited impatiently, her ear twitched.

"Two ShadowClan apprentices and a warrior, hunting on our territory at the edge of the lake!" Briarlight almost dropped the sack of poppy seeds. She held them out for Toadstep to take. He looked confused, but then grabbed it and looked at her, waiting for an explanation.

"Take it back to camp. Just give it to Jayfeather, and then get a patrol of cats. Go!" she hissed. Toadstep didn't question it, just ran off with the sack.

Briarlight marched angrily down the river, next to the sand. She kept sniffing the air, and finally caught the scent of the three ShadowClan cats. She looked around for them, and finally found them hunting right next to the lake. She recogized Pinenose as the warrior. Only one apprentice was there, Larkpaw, Pinenose's daughter. Pinenose also had a son, Adderpaw. His scent was strong, but he was not around here.

Briarlight hissed silently, and watched Pinenose purr with admiration as she watched Larkpaw pad back to her with a plump mouse in his mouth. Pinenose shrieked in delight and meowed," ThunderClan has better prey than we thought! We should've come here sooner when we needed food last moon when greencough came!"

_You'd better not come back here!_ Briarlight wanted to screech out loud, but knew that she must wait for Toadstep's patrol to come.

Suddenly, cats burst threw the thorn bushes surrounding one side of the clearing, and Briarlight recognized ThunderClan's warriors and apprentices. Toadstep was in the lead, followed by Brackenfur, Cloudtail, Sorreltail, Leafpool, Squirrelflight, Bumblestripe, Dewpaw, and Rainpaw. All of them had claws unsheathed. Briarlight emerged from behind Pinenose, and hissed loudly, baring her teeth.

Pinenose jumped and was pushed back against the last tree until the ground led down to the lake. Larkpaw mewed in anger and surprise and dropped her mouse, backing up until she was in front of Pinenose.

_Ha! Stupid ShadowClan thinks they can mess with ThunderClan! Our Clan is the most feared in the forest, and no Clan can beat us!_

Briarlight hung back while Squirrelflight's back fur rose and she hissed, the pupils of her eyes turning to tiny black slits. She suddenly remembered the two rogues. She couldn't help the feeling that it wasn't the last they'd seen of them.

Squirrelflight yowled," ShadowClan just doesn't learn, do they?" Pinenose gulped, and Larkpaw was trembling. Suddenly, the world around her flashed in whiteness, and then the scene Briarlight had just been in changed, and the grass was littered and soaked in blood.

Briarlight backed up, and saw that the cats around her had changed too. Squirrelflight was soaked in blood, her eyes, round black holes, with thin slits of red. Her Clanmates were soaked in blood and were covered with terrible battle scars. Pinenose was torn apart, her eyes hanging out of their sockets by terrible pink veins.

Briarlight choked with the sudden urge to throw up. Larkpaw had a leg missing, and in its place was a disgusting bloody red bone.

"No!" she shrieked. Then, as if nothing else could be more terrible, the sky cracked with a sharp bang of thunder. The whole world went quiet, and then as Briarlight looked around, wondering if anything else could make her throw up her last meal, she made the mistake of looked down at her own paws. They seemed normal for a second, then she noticed a shadow looming on the blood-splattered grass.

Briarlight warily looked up into the violet eyes of the nightmere cat. His fur was bare and cream colored, with the occasional patch of black fur. He stared into her eyes. Briarlight couldn't draw her own eyes away.

The black-patched tom meowed slowly in a deep, slow voice," You should watch your step. Always look behind you. Because sometimes, death is only a tail length away... BRIARLIGHT!" his voice grew to a high, piercing screech, and Briarlight kept staring into his gazing violet eyes.

The last memory Briarlight had was of the tom's eyes turning to black, with tiny slits of red in the middle. He lifted his bare, bony tail, and her once-Clanmates yowled up to the bloody red sky. The tom shrieked at her before she sank to the ground,"You will die slowly, one by one!"


	11. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

"Briarlight! Wake up!" Briarlight drowsily opened her eyes, and blinked surprisingly into the face of Jayfeather. She glanced around; they were in the medicine den, and she was in her nest.

Once Briarlight knew that the scarred black tom was gone, she flopped her head back down on the comforting feather-filled nest. "B-but what about the-"

"Intruders? Those ShadowClan cats? They were chased out of our territory. They barely put up a fight, from what I've heard," Jayfeather turned around and padded to the herb store. He returned moments later with a poppy seed. "Eat this."

Briarlight was too tired to tell him she didn't need it, so took it anyway.

Jayfeather sat down and turned his head to the medicine den entrance, where bright sunset-light was shining through in a pattern on the dirt floor. "The warriors have been telling me that you shouldn't leave camp for a while. They-"

"What?" Briarlight interrupted. "Why?" she blinked confusingly at him, even though he couldn't possibly tell.

Jayfeather's blue eyes looked sad, even sympathetic. "When they arrived to confront the ShadowClan cats, they said that you all of the sudden collapsed onto the ground."

Briarlight started to groom her fur, which was messy and smelled of dead leaves and the river. _Yuck!_

"Briarlight, I think they're right. Whenever our warriors go to do something, you decide to be involved in it. You aren't a warrior! You aren't a cat that can defend herself if under attack! Why can't you understand that?"

His shoulder fur bristled, and his claws were flying in and out under anger and stress. "Even though there's every possible way you couldn't ever come back to camp, you still decide to go with the warriors! And what do I always hear when they return? 'Jayfeather! Jayfeather! Come quick! There's something wrong with Briarlight!'"

Jayfeather started pacing. Briarlight pushed herself back against the wall of the den.

"I gave you specific instructions yesterday to collect poppy seeds, and come back to camp. I have just one question for you, Briarlight; why did you send Toadstep back to camp? He's a warrior with tons of experiance in fighting, he's been through more training than you have." Briarlight's ear flicked at the sound of his harsh words. _Is he trying to make me feel guilty for the tree falling into the camp?_

"You should've come back. Toadstep could've checked it out himself. He would've handled it better," Jayfeather calmed, his voice now just a quiet whisper. "My point is, you have to stay in camp. Until _Bramblestar _says otherwise." Bramblestar was still in the medicine den. He was recovered now, and was scheduled to return to his leader duty later today. Maybe he would straighten out his battle-hungry deputy.

Jayfeather stared at Briarlight, seeming to expect something like a response. Briarlight kept grooming her disgusting fur, hoping Jayfeather would leave her for some peace now.

The medicine cat hissed angrily and stomped out of his den. Briarlight was alone now. She figured Tigerpaw must've already gone outside.

_Why _did _I send Toadstep for reinforcements? That was completely mouse-brained. Jayfeather was right, I should've thought. _Briarlight was a bit angry at the medicine cat for yowling at her so, but knew that he was right.

"It's been SUCH as long time since Spiderleg died! Why hasn't Bramblestar assigned me a new mentor yet?" Briarlight purred with amusement as Stormpaw meowed to his father. She had just finished a delicious thrush, a bit bony, but with leaf-bare coming any day now, it was as good as an overfed one.

Briarlight watched the young light brown tabby tom sit down angrily at Lionblaze's paws. "I-I'm not sure, Stormpaw. Bramblestar could've assigned you a new mentor before the rogues attacked ThunderClan, but he's just recovered from losing a life. I'm sure once he's recovered his first act will be getting you a new mentor." Lionblaze meowed awkwardly to his eager son.

Briarlight was afraid Stormpaw might come up with a decent argument for Lionblaze's response, but the young apprentice looked pretty satisfied with his father's answer, and then bounded off to join Rainpaw and Snowpaw at the fresh-kill pile to share a few shrews.

Lionblaze padded over to the warriors' den, probably to reside from the cold air. It was sunny out today, but a freezing wind was blowing from the lake, and no cat wanted to be out for too long. Briarlight had already felt the coldness reaching her skin through her freshly groomed fur.

Then, from the Highledge, Squirrelflight burst out, looked around wildly, and then raced down the slope, and pelted out of camp, not even stopping at the tunnel where the usual thorn or burr grew.

A few cats in camp had taken notice.

"What was that all about?" asked Brightheart incredously. Cloudtail shook his head," I don't know. Who knows what that she-cat does anymore." Brightheart sniffed the air, but lowered her head into Cloudtail's shoulder fur after scenting nothing.

Rainpaw had taken notice, since she was the only one of the three apprentices facing the camp entrance, but didn't bring it up since Stormpaw and Snowpaw were talking about some cool battle tactics on a WindClan cat. Briarlight was about to go to the medicine den again, feeling the freezing chilliness of the breeze sinking into her fur, when loud yowling from the camp entrance made her stop in her tracks.

The remaining ThunderClan cats pricked their ears, apparently hearing the loud screechs too.

Cloudtail and Brightheart's shoulder fur bristled in fear and confusion when the voices of their Clanmates yowled frightingly from just a few fox-lengths from the camp entrance.

Almost all of the Clan's cats were outside, standing protectively by their dens, waiting for the sunhigh patrol to return, hopefully safe.

Then, out of the entrance, flew the sunhigh patrol, led by Icecloud, and also including Cherryleaf, Birchfall, and Dewpaw. They all carried the scent of fear, and dread raced through Briarlight. She'd recognized this moment before. Just, where?

Icecloud raced to the line of warriors in the camp, and shouted, as the rest of the patrol joined them," Intruders! They were chasing us! We have to protect the camp-" she was cut off as loud, ferocious howls from just a bit away from the camp entrance joined into the anxious murmurings of the ThunderClan cats.

Then, right as Briarlight rose to her paws, and was about to take cover at the prospect of a battle, a pitch black tom with a white tail tip and piercing green eyes pelted through the camp entrance, carrying two kits, one black, one light brown tabby. "Run!"

Just as he finished the word, a massive group of angry, spitting rogue cats raced through the entrance, and quickly launched themselves into battle. Her Clanmates were shocked and angry, but put up a fight, and Briarlight at that moment knew why this scene was familiar.

_T-This is my dream! But that means- oh no._


	12. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11**

Briarlight watched as her camp was slowly filled with more and more of fighting, wrestling, ficious rogues, battling ThunderClan's fierce warriors as if they were nothing.

She paused as she recognized the two rogues that had invaded their camp only a few sunrises ago, which had taken one of Bramblestar's lives. _I knew it! I just knew they would tell their whole group! We should've known..._

The only one visible was the ginger tom, who was pinned down by Brackenfur, his golden brown tabby pelt already splattered with the blood of another rogue.

Briarlight dragged herself around the camp, trying to avoid having her hind legs smashed by couples of tusseling, vicious cats rolling around in the clearing. Bramblestar hobbled sleepily out of his den, and his eyes streched wide when he saw what was going on in his camp. His amber eyes flashed, even from how far away Briarlight was from Highledge.

Out of the mass of cats flew Foxleap. He looked limp in the air, but then before he hit the ground, he twisted his body sideways, and landed perfectly on all four paws. Briarlight paused to admire his sleek reddish tabby pelt, it's color hiding any splatters of enemy's blood.

Briarlight was too busy staring, she didn't notice Foxleap was ordering her to do something. "Briarlight!" She snapped out of it, and concentrated on him. Then she remembered her dream...

_StarClan showed me our future for a reason... StarClan can't control everything I do! I've got no time to stand around figuring out why they showed me the vision, I have to decide for myself. Right now, I have to save Foxleap._

"Foxleap!" I shouted, just as he was about to leap back into battle. "Foxleap, you have to come with me! Now!"

Foxleap turned around, his handsome green eyes looking confused. Then he hissed and shook his head to clear whatever was buzzing around in his mind.

"What are you talking about?! I can't just come with you and abandon my Clanmates in a time like this!" he turned around and pounced on a sleek white she-cat.

Briarlight couldn't handle this! _If Foxleap doesn't get out of here, he'll die! There's no way I can let that happen!_

Briarlight reluctantly dragged herself away from the battle, and made her way over to the Nursery, where she maybe be able to defend a bit.

Cherryleaf, Snowpaw, and Dewpaw stood defending the Nursery from attacking cats. Briarlight hunched up her hind legs, and swiped an unsheathed claw at a black tabby cat, trying to squeeze in between Cherryleaf and Snowpaw while they were fighting.

The black tabby didn't even flinch, and was about to enter the Nursery when Cherryleaf pushed away the gray tabby and white tom she was fighting, and bit down hard on the black tabby's tail. He yowled and jumped backward onto his back, where Snowpaw jumped on top of him and bit him in the neck, which sent him running across the camp.

Briarlight heard yelping from inside the Nursery. She couldn't tell if it was one of Daisy's kits, or Daisy herself. What if it was Blossomfall? Briarlight couldn't let any stupid rogue hurt her sister.

Briarlight entered the Nursery with a approving glance at Dewpaw, who was closest to the entrance.

He nodded and bit down on a handsome brown tabby and dark brown tabby spotted tom. Briarlight pushed through the bramble entrance, and saw that it was Shadowkit who was wailing about. The tom-kit had a deep and bloody cut on his back left leg. Daisy looked desperately at Briarlight.

"Help! Shadowkit cut his leg on a thorn that one of the rogues brought in! You're a medicine cat, heal him!" Daisy pushed the little black tom to Briarlight's paws. Briarlight desperately tried to remember what to use. She needed special herbs, but there was no time for that right now. She spotted some cobweb in the unused nests in the back of the den.

"Cobwebs!" she meowed excitedly, and gathered up as much as she could, carrying them back to the crying little Shadowkit.

Briarlight carefully wrapped the web around Shadowkit's hind paw, comforting him when she accidently pulled the web too tight. Once she was done, Shadowkit and Sunkit were bouncing happly around the Nursery, despite the fighting war of cats outside.

Blossomfall was no where to be seen in the Nursery. Briarlight gasped and growled frightfully but strongly to Daisy," where is Blossomfall?" Daisy's blue eyes grew wide, and she shook her head; she didn't know.

Briarlight hissed and leaped out of the entrance, to find that Snowpaw was gone. She didn't care. All the mattered now was making sure her pregnant sister was alright. _Blossomfall is too close to kitting to be moving around the camp!_

As Briarlight made her way around the fighting cats, she dodged many of her Clanmates, bloodied and tiring. Brackenfur and Brightheart were both taking on the same blueish gray tom that came into the camp the first time. Hazeltail was fighting viciously with a dark gray she-cat, who had the gray and white she-cat pinned down. The dark gray rogue was about to deliver the killing bite, when the same black tom who had came into ThunderClan before the rogues jumped in next to Hazeltail.

Hazeltail looked up gloomily at the tom. He grabbed the dark gray she-cat's neck, and flipped her around in a crescent shape, whacking her against the ground away from Hazeltail. Briarlight had to admire the black tom's strength and smarts; he obviously had dealed with these rogues before.

But there was no time to stand and watch; she had to find Blossomfall. Then, right before Briarlight could drag herself another cat length when a gap opened up in front of her. A dark brown tom stood triumphantly over a limp body, dead.

Briarlight stopped dead in her tracks. Not caring that she was dangerously close to being trampled on by a fierce ball of shrieks and hisses, the battle being between a pitch black tom with pale yellow eyes, and Whitewing, her pretty green eyes portraying no signs of the kind and beautiful she-cat she had been minutes before the rogues had intruded.

Birchfall, the beloved light brown tabby that proved himself long ago as a loyal and trustworthy warrior to ThunderClan. He was the first kit made an apprentice in the Clans' new territory. The only ThunderClan kit to make the Great Journey. How could he possibly be dead?


	13. Chapter 12

CHAPTER** 12:**

"NO! You!" Whitewing stopped fighting. The dark brown tom hissed threatingly at the white she-cat as she launched herself at him. Briarlight could watch no more, as she was thrown off balance by a heavy body.

Briarlight gasped for breath under the weight of the cat that had been thrown at her. She achingly pulled her hind legs out from under the dead cat. Briarlight was just about to retreat from all of the fighting when she happened to be reminded of the face of the cat who now lay where she had just been.

_Dustpelt! _The old dark brown tabby used to be so full of life, ready to fight any battles to defend the Clan he had grown to love. Now, his tired old body lay, silent, as Briarlight painfully watched the slow rise and fall of his chest stop.

_These rogues are murdurers! Birchfall, Dustpelt... FOXLEAP!_

Briarlight had to find her love. She tried painstakingly to remind herself of the place she had seen him die in her dream. It had been such a long while... _Middle of the camp!, _someone seemed to scream at her. She instantly looked around for who yelled to her, but had no time. Foxleap was in danger. If this was the omen StarClan had sent her, then Briarlight's love would surely be next.

Briarlight grappled to get around the mass of fighting cats. All of the sudden, a loud yowl from the other side of the clearing, under Highledge, caught her off guard.

"Icecloud! Help me!" It was definetly Foxleap. _That's from the omen! I remember! Foxleap was fighting some cat, and then Icecloud came to help him, and _then _the rogue killed him._

Briarlight quickly turned around, fighting through the warriors with feriocity as mighty as StarClan.

Then, a gap opened up in the midst of the battle. There, Foxleap and Icecloud fighting side by side against a mighty tom-cat. The tom hissed, and dropped onto his back, exposing his belly fur.

Foxleap was no mouse-brain, and seized the moment perfectly. He jumped up, landing with all four paws on the tom's outstreched talons. While Foxleap held the rogue down, Icecloud slashed the cat's nose from behind. Briarlight couldn't help feeling proud of her love. He and Icecloud seemed to be fighting well. _Maybe the omen was wrong?_

The rogue had taken many blows on his face, and a bleeding cut under his left eye was gushing out bright red blood. Briarlight moved out of the way, and cowerdly ducked underneath a small overhang on the rock wall in camp.

Foxleap must've felt the rogue's retreat, and let up; the tom pelting out of the camp.

Briarlight quickly side-stepped Cinderheart as she swiped at a brown and white tabby tom. The tom wasn't fighting back, and was instead ducking from her paws, and was doing it pretty well.

Cinderheart was growing frustrated. She crouched down, and launched herself at the young tom. His amber eyes grew wide, and he slid under her while she was mid-pounce. The gray tabby she-cat hit the ground, hard. Briarlight cringed, and blinked a few times to clear her watering eyes. _Poor Cinderheart! She landed right on her face!_

The brown and white tabby glanced back at Cinderheart, wide-eyed. When he turned around, he faced Briarlight, less than two mouse-lengths away.

He gasped and pulled back, sitting down in surprise.

Briarlight didn't know what to do. She couldn't attack, she couldn't run, or she would have to fight through the throng of cats.

She pushed herself up against the rock wall. The tom tilted his head, no feriocity in his kind amber eyes. His ear flicked. Briarlight stared at him in shock. _Did he just do that on purpose?_

The tom kept staring at her, his eyes distant. He meowed," Briarlight?" Briarlight gaped. _How does he know my name?!_

She was about to ask when the pretty white she-cat rogue from before stopped beside the brown and white tabby. "Fox! Come with me! Now!" she yowled in an annoyed voice. _Fox? Is there something I'm missing here? He has the same first name as Foxleap!_

Fox glanced once more at Briarlight, and then sprinted off into the war with the white she-cat.

There was no time to fret on how he knew her name. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, a bone-chilling yowl made Briarlight freeze mid-breath. "Foxleap! No!" It was the voice of Icecloud.

Briarlight's paws felt massive amounts of fury, and she shoved and pushed panically through her fighting Clanmates until she found Foxleap, who had moved on top of the elders' sunning rock. The blueish gray tom from the first encounter with the rogues had Foxleap's scruff in his mouth.

Foxleap looked limp, but his eyes were blinking softly, the only thing that signaled that he was still alive.

Icecloud stood, frozen in fear, directly under the sunning rock. She stared up at her brother with round blue eyes.

Briarlight looked up in horror. The tom looked triumpantly down at some of the ThunderClan's cats shocked and angry faces. He dropped Foxleap onto the rock, and with a massive gray paw, smashed down on the reddish tabby's neck.

Briarlight cringed as Foxleap let out a squeak of pain. The tom lashed his tail and yowled louder than all of the Clans at a Gathering. The rogues froze, and the ThunderClan warriors looked on in confusion. All eyes were on the blueish tom with Foxleap, a claw-length from death.

When the whole clearing was silent, the tom lifted his head to the sky.

Before he could speak, Toadstep, bloodied and limping on his left hind leg, stepped out from the frozen cats in the camp. "You rogues have no right barging into our camp and attacking us for no reason!"

The gray tom holding Foxleap hissed angrily. "We have plenty of reason! We're looking for a cat." Toadstep growled," well sure looks like you've found some! Innocent ones! We've done nothing that gives you any right to come here!"

"A specific cat! He invaded our territory not a half moon ago! You'd know him if you've seen him!" the blueish tom meowed. Toadstep was about to say more, when Thornclaw pushed past him.

"Not one of us invaded your territory! We are warriors, we follow our own code." Thornclaw lashed his tail, bristling up to three times his size. Foxleap gagged, as the tom sunk his claws into his neck.

Briarlight whimpered. Thornclaw's amber eyes widened as he realized making this cat angry was only going to make Foxleap suffer more. He sheathed his claws and stepped back next to Toadstep.

The tom didn't stop sinking his claws into the reddish tabby's neck. All of the sudden, a loud yowl from the back of the crowd stopped Foxleap's gagging. "Stop!"

Briarlight turned. It was the black tom from seconds before the fight broke out. His kits were gone, but his green eyes showed no sadness, so they must be safe.

"Stop, stop this at once." He looked up at the tom. "You!" the tom hissed. Anger flashed, so did claws. Briarlight felt the ground shift under her feet, as the tom hissed, lifted his claw, and smashed down on Foxleap's throat, letting out a heart breaking whimper.

"Noooo!" Briarlight yowled, anger pulsing beneath her pelt. The black tom did the same, and launched himself at the rock, only to be knocked aside by Foxleap's body. The tom had enough strength under those bloodied claws to lift up the body and throw.

The rest of the rogues made a barrier around the rock, guarding their leader. The blueish tom had to be the leader, didn't he? He _had _adressed the Clan and the rest of the rogues.

Briarlight had no strength left, just angriness that was easing away. She looked around, everything was fuzzy. The clearing blurred, and a cat appeared in front of her face. It sounded like a tom, but she wasn't sure, everything was echoing. "Are you okay?"

Briarlight felt no more pain, and fell to the ground, blinked twice, and sunk into a deep sleep.

Bright light filled Briarlight's eyes. She groaned and blinked.

When she looked around the medicine den was surrounding her. Confused for a moment, Briarlight's ear flicked and her whiskers twitched. Then, she remembered all that had happened, the battle, the deaths, the black tom that had caused the murdur of Briarlight's love!

She was in her nest, which felt comforting and soft. After a careful inspection, Briarlight concluded that someone had added soft feathers and cotton fluff into her nest.

She looked around and inhaled deeply. Jayfeather was coming.

The gray tabby padded into the den as if on cue. He was carrying poppy seed, wrapped carefully and tied in a leaf. _What- I came up with that! When I was gathering herbs for Jayfeather with Toadstep!_

She didn't know how he could've known, but he meowed," It's okay, Briarlight. I found your way of small herb collecting very useful. Good job." He flicked his tail, looking right at her.

She turned her head in confusion. He set down the herb bundle. Briarlight sighed and thought solemnly of Foxleap. She would never again be greeted by his friendly voice, or his sparkling red pelt.

Jayfeather, surprising Briarlight even further, climbed into her nest and laid down next to her. She enjoyed the warmth of his fur, and wondered if he'd found out that she liked him.

She found it awkward after a few moments, and decisively pushed her head into Jayfeather's warm shoulder fur. She could feel him tense up a little, but he didn't shove her off. "Briarlight, I-I'm sorry about Foxleap. I knew you really liked him," Briarlight glanced up at Jayfeather. _Since when does he know? He doesn't care about love life, that I know of._

Jayfeather continued. "B-but I want you to know, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm here for you." Jayfeather was purring, and Briarlight joined in, kneading her paws in her nest.

_Does Jayfeather have feelings for me?, _she wondered.

They stayed like that for a while, just lying there, together. It was a blur what happened after that. Briarlight must've dozed off, because the next thing she knew, she was lying, asleep, in her nest.

Her eyes felt heavy with sleep, and it was night outside. It would've been pitch black if it weren't for cats' keen night-eyes.

Briarlight lifted her head and looked around. Jayfeather's warm scent still lingered in her nest. It wasn't just a dream! Pawsteps sounded in the bramble screen entrance. Jayfeather's gray tabby pelt shone in the den. His shining blue eyes were kind and soft.

"You're awake!" he exclaimed. "Come. Let's go for a walk, Briarlight."

Once out in the forest, dragging her hind legs behind her, they padded through the forest, heading toward the lake. When they emerged from the thick undergrowth, Briarlight was stunned.

There was no moonlight, just a faint glow in the clouds. Jayfeather led them down the sandy bank to the edge of the lake. Briarlight found herself surprised that he knew where to go, placing his paws in just the right places so not to fall.

He stopped, sat down, and curled his tail over his paws. Briarlight sat next to him, trying to place her hind legs in the right position so she could sit comfortably. Jayfeather looked at the clouds covering the stars. All of the sudden, light snowflakes started to fall.

"It's snowing!" Briarlight yelped. "Leaf-bare is almost here. Do you think the Clan is ready, Jayfeather?"

Jayfeather's blind eyes displayed no visible emotion. "I-I don't know." he mewed softly.

Briarlight looked down awkwardly, shuffling her paws. Then, she got a burst of excitment. "You're gonna' have to step up your game if you're going to compete with leaf-bare! Remember last year? We got WAY to much snow!" she purred with happiness.

Jayfeather lowered his eyes jokingly. "I know! Hopefully we don't loose any kits this year. Last year was just lucky. The elders' say Ferncloud lost two kits a few moons before the Clans moved to the new territory."

Briarlight remembered Ferncloud. She was so kind, and so gentle. She'd had so many kits with Dustpelt. It must've been hard for her to loose two so early in their lives. She was reunited with almost all of them now in StarClan. Their whole family was almost gone now!

A pang of sadness hit Briarlight in the head. Ferncloud was in StarClan now, and with her now were Dustpelt, Spiderleg, Birchfall, and Foxleap. Shrewpaw, Spiderleg's brother, and Hollykit and Larchkit, Birchfall's two sisters, had been in StarClan for a while now. Only Icecloud remained with the Clans.

Jayfeather purred loudly. "Leaf-bare is always a time for lost kits."

Briarlight looked at him. "It's true, but no one likes to think to much on that. It's too hard to bear, the lost little kits."

"Leaf-bare is also a frequent time for new kits." They both met eyes. Briarlight felt sparks in her heart. Jayfeather DID love her.

They said nothing, but an exchange of looks, even with Jayfeather being blind, said everything that was rushing through their minds. "B-but my injury won't allow kits. I'm too damaged! And what would our Clanmates think? I can't just stay in my nest the whole time, hiding! I'd die! Just like Wildfur!"

Jayfeather held up his tail to her mouth before she could say anything else. "It's alright, Briarlight. We will find a way to figure everything out later. This means breaking the warrior code, but not even that can stop our love!" Briarlight had to agree.

Her mind easing, Briarlight leaned on Jayfeather's shoulder, forgeting all that awaited back at camp for a moment. Perhaps Foxleap was not a wise choice. He had saved her life, but only because she was in danger. Jayfeather had also saved her life, but not for the same reason. Foxleap helped save her phisically, but Jayfeather saved her both.

Perhaps even if Foxleap had lived, they would've never have been together. But with Jayfeather, they had a sure-fire love that snapped the warrior code, and they kept to it, through and through. Not even StarClan could stop the flame that was arising within.

Briarlight concluded. Foxleap was dead, no longer living. She could talk to him in her dreams, but Jayfeather would be there always. In her heart.


	14. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER 13:**

"Jayfeather! Briarlight! Come quick! It's Blossomfall!"

Briarlight looked up with alarm. Graystripe stood in the medicine den entrance, a scared look in his usually calm amber eyes. Briarlight got to her paws, flashed a look at Jayfeather, and they both raced out of the den with the needed herbs.

It had been nearly two moons since the battle. She and Jayfeather had become in-secret mates. They both knew the terrible price they would pay, but Briarlight also knew that nothing, not even the warrior code, could keep her and Jayfeather apart.

_This must be even harder for Jayfeather. I'm surprised he even would want to, after what Crowfeather and Leafpool did to him, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf. _She couldn't imagine the pain he must be feeling as they pelted across the clearing to the Nursery to help her sister.

Briarlight had spent the last two moons gaining weight, for she knew that it wasn't just the unusual surplus of food. She was pregnant with Jayfeather's kits! They both were in shock when she threw up her breakfest mouse about a moon and a half ago and realized that she was expecting kits. Her injury shouldn't have allowed it, but it was here and done.

Luckily for her, all of the dragging around should hide her growing belly, Jayfeather had pointed out.

Once in the Nursery, Briarlight watched as Jayfeather rushed over to Blossomfall's side. Toadstep hovered above her. Briarlight's ears seemed to loose all hearing, and everything slowed down, voices becoming echoing murmurs.

Jayfeather hissed at Toadstep, and he was shooed out of the Nursery by Daisy. The long-furred cream she-cat pushed past Briarlight to the entrance. She was snapped out of her trance.

Daisy disappeared and reappeared a few moments later with a large and unusually thick tree branch. "Perfect," Jayfeather nodded at Daisy's stick.

The medicine cat lifted his paws and felt Blossomfall's swollen stomach. His ears perked up and he gasped. Daisy noticed, and her shoulder fur started to bristle. "W-what's wrong? Is she alright?" the queen asked worriedly.

Jayfeather stopped his working paws, turned to Daisy, and meowed," she's fine... i-it's just..." he paused, giving Blossomfall some herb that Briarlight didn't recognize.

Daisy stepped forward and bared her sharp teeth. "What?!" she glared fiercely at the medicine cat.

"Five kits! Blossomfall has five kits on the way!" he meowed loudly. Daisy shrunk back in disbelief. "Five? That can't be... no one but kittypets have more than four in one litter!" Jayfeather's unseeing eyes flashed in anger.

"Well you'd better stop worrying about it and help! Blossomfall is inexperianced at this, and we always should take unnecessary precautions! Anything could happen with a queen expecting five kits!" Briarlight could tell he was truly angry.

_Five kits! _through all of the worry and fright, Briarlight found a speck of pride at her sister. She would be so happy when it was all over. Briarlight was snapped back to reality when Blossomfall was handed the stick. Jayfeather yowled, and it was starting.

Briarlight dragged herself over to her mate's side, watching in fright. Blossomfall looked to be in agony as the first wet little bundle slid out into the nest. Jayfeather grabbed it quickly, set it in front of Daisy, and got back to the tortoiseshell and white queen getting ready for her second kit.

Briarlight couldn't help but glance over at Daisy. She'd already broken the sac that enclosed the little kit, and was now licking it vigoroulsy to help it start breathing. It was near to impossible to tell what color the little kit was over all of the ghastly blood that made Briarlight want to go throw up.

Blossomfall squealed, making Briarlight jump. A second kit, closely followed by a third, were now lying on the nest. Jayfeather picked up the second kit, and gave it to Briarlight. She and Jayfeather met eyes, and he whispered," save this one. This one especially."

Briarlight didn't know if he was talking about Blossomfall's whole litter or this specific kit, but was quickly dragged away from the thought as she popped open the sac around the little kit.

It slid out, very still. Briarlight licked and licked, and was truly relieved when she saw the slow rise and fall of her little chest. She knew it was a she-kit from the damp scent in the blood that now covered pretty much the whole of the place where Briarlight was sitting.

Blossomfall's first kit had been set in one of the empty nests, now mewling quietly, still finding its voice.

Briarlight set the little she-kit next to the first one, which by scent, was a tom.

Daisy had been handed the third kit, and Jayfeather gave Briarlight the fourth. She worked and worked, repeating the process of which she had done for the previous she-kit. Once the first four were safely mewing in the empty nest, Briarlight reluctantly delayed her GREATLY needed washing to watch anxiously over Jayfeather's shoulder.

Blossomfall's eyes were closed limply, the stick had many bite marks, showing where Jayfeather had adjusted it for her teeth. The fifth kit seemed to be having trouble. Jayfeather looked around, obviously panicking.

"Should we give her something?" Briarlight asked, nudging Jayfeather's herb bundle closer to his side. His blue eyes were unmoving, staring desperatly at Blossomfall.

"No. T-the fifth kit is in the paws of StarClan now. There is nothing more we can do here for it." Briarlight understood what he was saying, but Daisy was having a fit.

"We can't just sit here and not do anything! Help her, Jayfeather! You're the medicine cat for StarClan's sake!" Jayfeather sat, ignoring the queen yowling into his ear.

Blossomfall, in pain and of tiredness, fell asleep right after the dangerously bloody fifth kit slid out. Jayfeather took the kit, popped the sac, and fiercely licked and licked.

Briarlight stared in agony as the slow heartbeat refused to start. Jayfeather didn't stop, he kept on. Briarlight's claws were kneading the Nursery floor in fright and worry when finally, the little kit's heartbeat started. Daisy noticed first, even before Jayfeather, and yowled very loudly,"He's alive! Blossomfall's fifth kit is alive!"

"Oh, thank StarClan!" Briarlight yelped, while comforting Blossomfall's second little she-kit. Briarlight looked into Jayfeather's blue eyes as he handed the fifth kit to Daisy for cleaning.

Briarlight was so full of relief as she helped Daisy clean the other kits for Blossomfall's awakening. Her sister had to have a good view when she opened her eyes for the first time after her kitting! Jayfeather gathered up his herbs, exiting the den to return to his. Briarlight refused to go with him; Blossomfall was her sister, these five kits were her nieces and nephews!

When Blossomfall awoke, Briarlight could tell that she heard her kits, but she was much too tired to lift her head and see them. Briarlight knew what to do.

"Blossomfall, you have five healthy kits." Before she could say anymore, Blossomfall's ears perked up, and she gasped in a voice full of exhaustion," five? Really?" Briarlight nodded.

"Three cute little toms and two adorable little she-cats! The first kit, a tom, is a handsome black and white. He's already opened his eyes! They're amber, just like yours." Blossomfall's tail twitched, and she shuffled in her nest.

"The second is a small little she-cat, a tortoiseshell with pretty green eyes! She's so sweet, she hasn't made a sound yet! She just sits quietly in the corner." Blossomfall had no visible reaction.

Daisy took over. "Your third is another little she-cat! A beautiful cream color! Her eyes are so amber, if they got any more amber they'd be red!" Daisy purred, wrapping her tail over the loudest meowing kitten.

Blossomfall seemed to enjoy this kitten, and started purring. Daisy joined in, moving to the fourth kit. "Oh, Blossomfall, this one is just unnmistakably adorable! A cute little ginger and white tom with the most handsome green eyes, and oh his mews are enough to break your heart!"

Briarlight had to admit, Daisy did have a point with that. Except, the little tom was getting annoying with his high-pitched squeals. Blossomfall seemed to gather enough energy to meow tiredly," what does my last kit look like?" Her head flopped back down on the nest.

Briarlight stepped in before Daisy could continue. "Your final kit is a tiny little pale gray tabby! His paws are so small, you'd think they were made for a mouse." Blossomfall summoned up enough energy to sit up and look over her litter of kits.

Daisy padded to the den entrance, meowed quiet words to someone outside, and three cats entered the Nursery; Toadstep, Graystripe, and Bumblestripe. Briarlight relished in having their whole family here, whole family minus Millie, their mother.

Toadstep brushed past Daisy, his mother, nuzzling her before padding to sit next to Blossomfall. The two cats rubbed noses, Briarlight wished she could be that affectionate with Jayfeather without trying to hide it. Graystripe sat between Bumblestripe and Briarlight. He meowed, in his voice, starting to rasp with his age," what are you going to name them?"

Toadstep met eyes with Blossomfall. Blossomfall nodded at her mate; Briarlight figured it probably meant that he got to choose the first. He nodded silently, and scanned the kits. "I'd like to name the black and white kit Thrushkit." Toadstep didn't offer a reason, but Briarlight knew it was agreed because Graystripe looked at Thrushkit approvingly and Bumblestripe was nodding his head.

Blossomfall looked at the little cream colored kit with uncertainty. "The little cream kit will be called Aspenkit. Toadstep and I knew we were meant for each other under that short little aspen tree by WindClan territory." Toadstep's eyes held a solumn agreement and sensitivity that Briarlight had never seen a tom do before.

Toadstep nodded at the little tortoiseshell, silent and beautiful. "She will be called Cloverkit, do you see that bright ginger patch on her left shoulder? It's shaped sorta' like a clover!"

He turned to Blossomfall for the handsome but annoying little ginger and white tom. "Lightningkit!" she yowled. All of the cats shrunk back with surprise. Blossomfall didn't need to yell!

Right when Briarlight was about to complain, Blossomfall's hackles rose and her eyes flashed bright. She stared distantly at the roof, Briarlight followed where she stared but saw nothing.

Blossomfall then dropped her head, breathing heavily. Bumblestripe gasped," Blossomfall!" Toadstep took a few steps toward his mate," W-whats wrong with her?" Before anything more could happen, the tortoiseshell and white queen lifted her head, back to normal.

Briarlight sighed with relief. "Blossomfall, are you alright?" she asked worriedly. Briarlight's sister still looked unsettled, but quickly nodded her head. All eyes moved from Blossomfall to the newly named Lightningkit. _Could that have been a sign from StarClan? Is Lightningkit destined for something greater? This MUST mean something, _Briarlight's thoughts flashed through her mind like lightning itself.

Toadstep laid down next to Blossomfall, comforting her. They both turned their heads away from the rest of the cats, when Toadstep turned back around, he meowed," Blossomfall and I have decided on the last kit. He will be called Smokekit."

After a few more moments of agreeing and worrying about Blossomfall's sudden outburst, all of the cats exited the Nursery. Toadstep and Blossomfall needed some time to themselves with five new kits.

Jayfeather emerged from his den after putting away the unused herbs. He immediatly raced up the slope to Highledge, probably to tell Bramblestar that Blossomfall had kitted. Briarlight uneasily headed over to the fresh-kill pile, grabbed a crow, and decided to visit the elders in front of their den. Graystripe had already returned to the elders' den; he and Sandstorm sunning outside the entrance.

Sandstorm spotted Briarlight coming first. "Briarlight! How wonderful that you pay us some attention. With new-leaf coming, we are hardly brought any fresh-kill anymore. All of those silly apprentices are always out training!"

"Your welcome. Anything to help out!" Briarlight set down the crow in front of Sandstorm and nodded to her father as she dragged herself to the middle of the camp, where Bramblestar had just called a Clan meeting.

Briarlight set herself down right in the middle of camp where she could see. Her Clanmates started coming out from their dens or from the other parts of camp. The entrance rustled, and Stormpaw and Rainpaw raced through, closely followed by Squirrelflight. After came Brackenfur, Stormpaw's new mentor. Both mentors look exhausted, after a day of battle training with their extra-hyper apprentices.

The two hyper cats sat down right in front of Briarlight, and quickly jumped into chattering on about their day of training and after, what would Bramblestar be announcing.

Briarlight soon found herself annoyed. Even more so when Snowpaw joined in!

Finally, when Briarlight was about to move, Bramblestar started. "ThunderClan, I call you here today to announce a very important ritual in Clan life! The birth of new kits!" The clearing erupted into loud yowling and cheering, everyone happy that Briarlight's own sister had finally kitted! _Just wait till' they hear how many. That'll get them real' surprised!, _Briarlight thought mischeviously, glancing secretly at her unknowing Clanmates.

The shock of five kits still echoed in Bramblestar's kind amber eyes, Briarlight could tell even from so far away.

Once the clearing grew quieter, Bramblestar continued. "Our long-awaited queen, Blossomfall, has kitted just earlier this afternoon. She and Toadstep are the proud parents of five healthy kits."

Briarlight got exactly the reaction she was hoping for. Everyone started asking, gasping, and looks of surprise lined all faces.

"Five kits?!"

"Is she okay?"

"Is something wrong with her? Five kits is just too many for a queen like _Blossomfall_!" Briarlight looked around angrily for the cat who said THIS. It happened to be Berrynose, the long-furred cream tom sitting proudly next to Poppyfrost a few rows behind Briarlight.

Briarlight locked eyes with Berrynose until he shuffled his paws awkwardly. Briarlight slowly turned back around; Berrynose knew not to mess with her!

Bramblestar silenced the cats with a yowl, and then bounded down the Highledge to see ThunderClan's newest warriors. All of the other cats gathered around the Nursery, forming a line to see Blossomfall's five new kits.

Briarlight decided to get out of camp for a while and go for a walk; it seemed like Jayfeather's old rule had worn off with time, that she couldn't leave camp without an escort.

As she headed out of camp, she immediatly felt peace set in. A warm breeze blew silently under the cool oaks and maples around her, making her fur feel light and airy. Birds chirped in the trees, high up above the ground, fluttering from one branch to the next. Briarlight wished she could catch some, but even with the use of her hind legs, it was impossible. Her swollen belly held unborn kits, and Briarlight felt them heavier than before.

They would be coming soon; VERY soon!

Briarlight pushed through the ferns, farther into ThunderClan's territory. The sun shone up above, and her pelt grew warm. All of the sudden, a twig snapped from somewhere to Briarlight's left side in the bushes.

She stopped dead in her tracks. Her ears had just been ringing with the peaceful sounds of the forest, now everything was silent, her ears including. Fear grew inside her, and her paws felt like they were buzzing with her natural instinct to run. Her mind went blank, as leaves crackled, closer now.

All of the sudden, a black cat emerged slowly from the bushes. Briarlight gasped and nearly toppled over, her dragging belly the only thing stopping her. It was the same black cat from the battle! Briarlight pulled back, trying to haul her hind legs away.

The tom's white tipped tail flicked back and forth, as if he was studying her. Two kits appeared from behind him. They were the same two kits from the battle! But, they were, of course, two moons older now. One was a pitch black tabby with green eyes, the other was a smaller dark ginger tabby with yellow eyes.

The tom glanced at the kits, wrapping his tail around them. He meowed," A-are you from ThunderClan?" Briarlight blinked, thoughts rushing through her mind. Her ear flicked, and they began to ring again. "I am."

The tom gasped and jumped to his paws, higher than before. "ThunderClan! Oh it's been such a while since I've seen my own birthClan..." he started muttering words too soft for Briarlight to understand.

Before Briarlight could question, the tom looked her in the eye, and meowed," Sorry. I used to be a ThunderClan apprentice! Back in the forest, the old territory!" Briarlight mewed confusingly, she sat down and the other cat followed.

"My name is Ravenpaw. I grew up in ThunderClan, back in the clans' old territory. I was an apprentice until Tigerstar- you know all about Tigerstar's story right?" Briarlight nodded.

"Yes, well, Tigerstar- he was called Tigerclaw back then- was my mentor. Then Firestar came into the Clan! He was just a little apprentice; hardly knew anything about our Clan's way of life. The battle with RiverClan was happening while he was being accepted, and when I barged into the camp, there he was! I hardly had time to notice there was a kittypet in our camp because of what I'd just saw Tigerclaw do."

Briarlight was too caught up in Ravenpaw's story to think about why he'd returned. "What did you see?" she asked curiously.

"Redtail had just emerged from a rockfall where Oakheart, the RiverClan deputy, had died. Redtail was ThunderClan's deputy, but you probably already knew that. Redtail rushed away after announcing that Oakheart was dead! I kept fighting, and then I was ordered back to camp by Tigerclaw. But, I was too curious to go, so I stayed as the RiverClan cats rushed down the slope to their territory. Redtail had his back to Tigerclaw. Tigerclaw jumped on Redtail, catching him by surprise. Redtail was killed."

Briarlight tried to ignore the tom's dramatic voice; she'd already heard this story many times from the elders.

"By then, I rushed back to camp, and told Bluestar, the leader, that Redtail was dead! Tigerclaw lied to all of us; he told us that Oakheart killed our deputy, and then he'd killed Oakheart in revenge. Everyone believed him!" Ravenpaw's voice was full of regret.

"At a Gathering, the other Clans' apprentices pushed me into telling the story. I couldn't lie! So, I told it exactly the way it happened. Tigerclaw probably overheard me. He thought I deserved to die, or at least leave ThunderClan," Ravenpaw's voice choked with sadness. "Tigerclaw eventually became ThunderClan's deputy. He started rumors around camp that I had betrayed the Clan, but only Firestar and Graystripe believed me. Before the battle where Brokenstar was chased out of ShadowClan, Firestar and Graystripe led me away from ThunderClan, to Barley, a loner, who lived at a barn on the other side of the forest."

Briarlight felt impatientance. She wanted to know why this cat was here now! "Ravenpaw, if Firestar and Graystripe led you away from ThunderClan to live with Barley, why are you back here?" she asked.

"I was just getting to that. Anyway, I lived in peace with Barley. We helped the Clans various times, and they in turn helped us many of times also. Finally, when I heard the Clans were leaving the territories, I was sad, yes. But, the forest was no longer a safe place for them. I said my goodbyes to Firestar and the rest of the Clans, never expecting to see them again."

Briarlight listened intently.

Ravenpaw continued," I slowly watched the days drag on, the twolegs destroying more and more of the Clans former territories. They even uprooted almost all of ThunderClan's old camp! I could not stand to watch this any longer. Barley had passed on, of old age of course. Nothing else could penetrate our barn! Alone for a few days more after burying Barley, I was sick of watching the monsters ride the new thunderpath the twolegs had built over the previous territories. A very big, very wide Thunderpath replaced Fourtrees, and smaller thunderpaths replaced the rest of the territories. I finally gathered up my courage and left the barn."

I followed the almost-gone scent trail of the Clans. It surprisingly was still faintly lingering there. Good thing there were so many cats, or I would never have found ThunderClan again! I met many cats on the way. But, I did meet one loner cat. Her name was Roxy. Her pelt was fox-red with dark tabby stripes, her eyes the most beautiful amber," Briarlight could tell Ravenpaw was lost in thought now.

He finally went on. "Roxy and I traveled together. She had heard many rumors about the Clans that roamed a place she called 'the lake territory'. She had always dreamed of finding them. I knew what she was talking about, and I even told her. It was our mission to find the Clans together! We eventually fell in love, and we had our two little kits," he gestured to the two tom-kits standing behind him.

Briarlight still wondered the truth about his story.

"Then, we traveled into the rogues territory. We ran into the lead rogue, Dark. He warned us to stay off of his land. We agreed, and tried to travel around it. It apparently wasn't good enough for Dark, and he found us sleeping in a hollow under a big willow tree. When I awoke, his rogue slaves were carrying away Roxy. I chased after them, but Dark stayed back to keep me occupied while his rogues carried away my beloved mate! I slashed him once deep across his left eye."

Briarlight glanced around warily, wondering if any of her Clan were watching her talk to this loner.

"He got so angry with me, he swore that if he caught me on his land again, I would be crow-food. But, I couldn't just leave Roxy! It would be next to impossible to care for two kits alone. And we'd been through so much together; I wouldn't leave her with those rogues for a minute. So, I devised a plan with a tom I met. He was a hyper ol' tabby with the strangest silver eyes. His coat was so pale brown it looked dusty like dirt. His tabby stripes were so dark they looked like the night!"

Ravenpaw stood up on his paws, making Briarlight shrink down.

"His name was Perk. Perk and I came up with a plan. It was genius! Unfortunetly, on the night of our plan, while I was sneaking through the rogues forest, getting ready to barge into the camp, the first part of our take-over, Dark found me. He came with his deputy, Blue. Dark had brought Roxy. Dark repeated his warning, and he told me that I had crossed the line. He killed Roxy..." Ravenpaw closed his eyes with pain.

Briarlight felt a pang of sadness for Ravenpaw. He'd been through a lot!

"Dark killed Roxy, and told me to get off of his territory. I knew I wanted to go back for Perk, but Dark and Blue left me no choice. I had to go, or they'd take my kits too. Did I mention my kits were with me while I was acting the first part of our plan? No? Well, they were. I ran and ran, farther and faster away. I still don't know what became of Perk. I guess he must've gotten bored and lost interest in our plan. Oh, why did I ever leave him!"

Ravenpaw stomped a black-furred paw on the ground. Briarlight met his eyes. She could tell now; he was telling the truth. _Everything he's been through, everything's he's had to endure! It's almost as painful a story as mine._

Ravenpaw shook his head, clearing away his bad thoughts. "Well, that's about enough about me! Tell me about you!" He sat down again, patient. Briarlight didn't know if he'd noticed her swollen belly or paralyzed hind legs, but thought to leave it out; he'd find out in good time.

"Well, I'm Briarlight. I'm the medicine cat assistant of ThunderClan!" she mewed hopefully. Ravenpaw cocked his head. "Assistant? Don't you mean apprentice?"

"Well, no. You see, when I was just a regular warrior apprentice, a tree fell into our camp. An elder, Longtail-"

"Longtail is here? He must be ancient by now!" Ravenpaw meowed with a hint of humor in his high-pitched voice. "No, h-he... died. Mousefur was complaining about leaving perfectly good fresh-kill in the camp right before the tree was about to fall. Longtail went back to the camp to get it for her- I couldn't just let an innocent elder get crushed! I went after him, that's when the tree fell and paralyzed my back legs,"

Briarlight got up; reluctantly showing Ravenpaw what had happened. He didn't say anything, just looked on with sadness. "I-I'm so sorry..." he lowered his head. Briarlight mewed," That happened when I was an apprentice! I'm full-grown now! I get along almost exactly how the other cats do."

Ravenpaw looked thoughtful, and then meowed," Well, I'm about out of story-telling for one day! How about we head back to your camp?"

Briarlight felt a bit unsure of whether this tom could be trusted inside the heart of ThunderClan territory, but she quickly agreed once the kits showed her his paw pads, swollen and red with blood. Briarlight gasped, and then led them through the trees.

By now, the sun was almost about to set, and a chill breeze was setting in from the lake. Ravenpaw suddenly started talking; mostly about the old Clan territory. Briarlight was trying to ignore it, but suddenly, he started talking about Firestar.

"Firepaw was promising from the start! He impressed all of the warriors, especially Bluestar. He and Bluestar were always so close! Even more when she became his mentor! I never did get my warrior name, sometimes I wished I could've. Firepaw and Graypaw got their warrior names, and I was so proud when he told me they were Fireheart and Graystripe! I was so sad when I heard that Fireheart was now the leader of ThunderClan, Firestar. Don't get me wrong, I was still very proud of my friend! Firestar actually was my first actual friend, Graystripe came a bit later when we started to hang out more often."

Briarlight felt a rising fear in her belly. Ravenpaw and Firestar were so close! Briarlight's heart nearly stopped when she heard what Ravenpaw said next.

"Holy StarClan, I've never realized how much I miss my old friend! So, since you live in ThunderClan, you MUST know him! Tell me, how is he?"


	15. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER 14:**

Briarlight felt shock in her paws.

_Oh, StarClan where do I start?_

Luckily, at that moment, they both emerged into the small space where the camp entrance was. Ravenpaw looked ready to burst with excitment; hopefully he had forgotten his question.

"You ready?" Briarlight asked, just squeezing her head into the entrance tunnel. Ravenpaw lashed his tail and meowed," I've been ready since the day I left!"

Briarlight quickly entered the clearing and watched curiously as Ravenpaw slipped out after her.

Ravenpaw's amber eyes grew so wide Briarlight thought they would pop out! He looked around at the camp. He whispered," Is this really ThunderClan's camp?"

"Yes, it is. When we found it, we couldn't fight it, it was destined to be ThunderClan's new camp! It was just so perfect," Briarlight noticed that no cat seemed to be outside at the moment. They must be in their dens, hiding from the cold, or out on patrol or training the apprentices.

"When we found it, we quickly transformed it into our new camp. We created dens and spaces for each rank in the Clan," Briarlight headed to the left from the entrance. The elders den was right there. She pointed to it with her nose.

"That's the elders' den. It seemed well protected against the cold air and just in the right spot when the sun shines through. It's been pretty cold recently, so none of our elders are out here now."

Ravenpaw looked at it in amazement.

Briarlight introduced the rest of the camp to Ravenpaw, den by den. Once they had gone through the entire camp and were back at the entrance, it seemed all of the talking had attracted some attention.

"WHO is talking out there!?" Squirrelflight emerged from the Highledge. Her dark ginger pelt looked ruffled, like she'd just woken up.

Her green gaze sharpened when she saw Ravenpaw. Although, she looked confused. Briarlight knew that Squirrelflight was born in the forest, and lived there for almost all of her apprenticeship, but so much had happened since then; she probably didn't remember him.

Ravenpaw seemed to remember her, though he was a wise cat. He dipped his head and stayed silent as Squirrelflight bounded down the rocky slope. Briarlight watched Squirrelflight pad past Ravenpaw to stand beside her, casting glances at the tom who slowly was starting to realize who this was.

The dark ginger she-cat murmured to Briarlight," Who is this? Why have you brought him to our camp?! You know as well as I do that he was in the rogue battle!" Briarlight cringed a bit at her harsh tone.

Before Briarlight could respond, Ravenpaw gasped. "Holy StarClan! This couldn't possibly be Squirrelpaw!" His eyes were filled with emotion and excitment at seeing an old friend.

Squirrelflight looked confused as Ravenpaw spoke freely. "Oh my... the last time I saw you was when you and the rest of the Clans were leaving the forest! You were just an apprentice then, Firestar always spoke of how proud he was of you, even though sometimes your imagination ran too wild!" Ravenpaw's eyes filled with remembrance.

The deputy still didn't recognize Ravenpaw. "You knew my father? How?" she meowed questioningly. "Firestar was my best friend!" the black tom then seemed to recognize that the wild apprentice he had once known had said something wrong.

"Wait... knew? Hold on... Firestar's..." he looked up in shock and surprise. "Dead?" Squirrelflight cocked her head sideways. "Who are you?"

Ravenpaw lowered his gaze. "M-m-my best f-friend... how could he possibly be dead?" Squirrelflight's hackles rose. "I asked you a question, rogue! Answer it! Who are you?!"

Squirrelflight demanded an answer, and Ravenpaw was no mouse-brain. "Ravenpaw's the name. I helped you and the rest of the Clans when you were leaving the forest... Barley and I gave you shelter. I never expected to see Firestar again... but when I finally found Briarlight here," he flicked his tail at the dark brown she-cat.

"I figured that I would get to see my friend again!" A sharp breeze whistled around the camp at that moment.

Ravenpaw continued with sorrow. "Well, I'm sure Firestar died for a good cause. I will not question that cause now, for I have just arrived at your camp! Squirrelpaw, please... let me see how far my Clan has come since the last I have seen of them!" The pleading in his voice was unmistakable.

Squirrelflight sighed and flicked her tail. "Fine. Since you seem to know who my father was, I'll let you see our Clan." she started to pad back up to Highledge. "And I'm no apprentice! I'm the deputy, Squirrelflight!"

Ravenpaw marveled in awe. "Wow! She's come so far, from a crazy, naive young apprentice, to the bold and courageous Clan deputy!"

Briarlight was starting to like this tom so far. All of the sudden, a squeal from behind Ravenpaw brought Briarlight to full attention. The little black kitten was mewing loudly and in despair.

Ravenpaw turned away from Briarlight and nuzzled the pitch black tom-kit. "What's wrong, Felix?" he whispered to his son.

"I'm hungry! And my paws hurt! And I'm tired! Why can't we go to sleep?" Felix surpressed a yawn. Ravenpaw curled his white tipped tail around his two sons, and cast a desperate glance at Briarlight.

She got to her paws and led the way to the Nursery. She pushed her paw inside; feeling happy when she saw Blossomfall curled up with her five kits. Ravenpaw came in after Briarlight, and stared at the tortoiseshell and white queen in shock.

"This is Blossomfall, my sister," Briarlight introduced. "We're Graystripe and Millie's kits. When Graystripe got lost, he met our mother, Millie, and she came back with him. We also have a brother, Bumblestripe, but I don't know where he is right now." Ravenpaw purred at Blossomfall and her small, mewling little kits.

Blossomfall didn't question who Ravenpaw was; but she must've known he wasn't a threat to her newborns because Briarlight seemed calm around him. She looked at her kits and introduced them one by one.

"This is Thrushkit," she pointed with her paw to the black and white kitten. "And these are Aspenkit, Cloverkit, Smokekit, and Lightningkit." She pointed to each of her kittens.

Ravenpaw looked at them happily. "I'm very happy for you, Blossomfall. You have beautiful kits!" he looked around and pulled his kits close. Briarlight dragged herself over to Daisy, who was licking the top of sleeping Shadowkit's head. Her kits were six moons, and would be getting their apprentices names in the next day or so.

Briarlight stood in front of Daisy. "Daisy, would you be fine if you'd take care of Ravenpaw's two kits for the night? They're tired and hungry, and they have no mother to feed them." Briarlight tried to sound as helpless as she could.

Daisy looked the two kits up and down. "Well, they are definetly too old for milk, but I suppose some food will do them good. They look about the age of Shadowkit and Sunkit here." She cast a wary glance at Ravenpaw and then her own kits.

Daisy let out a long sigh. "Alright, I'll take them, for only tonight! Tomorrow they go back to wherever they came from!"

Briarlight recoiled at her sharp tone, but she could see the affection in the old queen's eyes as she nestled Felix and the other tom down next to Sunkit and Shadowkit.

Briarlight led Ravenpaw out of the Nursery once his kits were safe and sound with Daisy. She was about to offer the black rogue to sleep in one of the nests on the outside of the camp by the warriors' den, when a loud, furious yowl came from the camp entrance tunnel.

Ravenpaw and Briarlight stared at Icecloud as she raced through, her usually sleek white pelt now ruffled and dirty.

The young white she-cat stumbled into the middle of the clearing, yowling to get every cat's attention. Bramblestar and Squirrelflight raced out of the Highledge den and down the rocky slope to stand in front of Icecloud.

Icecloud stopped panting for a second to announce what was going on.

"ThunderClan! You must come! Help!" she spread out her paws and took deep breaths as the rest of the Clan murmured worridly. Bramblestar stepped forward to confront the young warrior.

"Icecloud, what has happened? Tell us!" Icecloud looked at the leader in the eye and took a deep breath.

"The dusk patrol was patrolling the WindClan border as you ordered us, and then all of the sudden..." she shrunk back as she retold the tradgedy. Briarlight flicked her ear and beckoned to Ravenpaw to come closer to Icecloud and the rest of ThunderClan.

"It... it seemed like the whole of WindClan and RiverClan came charging over that rise! All of them, they came across the river and attacked us! Toadstep, Cloudtail, and Dewpaw are there!"

ThunderClan let out a dramatic gasp of horror, which quickly turned into loud yowls and protests.

Bramblestar yowled to the darkening sky,"What are we all waiting for? Let's go teach them a lesson!"


	16. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER 15:**

Briarlight watched in sorrow as her Clan pelted off into the forest. She stood in the middle of the clearing.

Bramblestar had quickly gathered his patrol, as many fighting cats as possible, and they headed off as quick as possible! Briarlight knew better; of course she couldn't come!

She turned around and headed to the Nursery to check on her sister and her kits.

As Briarlight dragged herself across the clearing, she spotted Ravenpaw outside of the warriors' den, looking around warily, as if unsure of what to do.

Briarlight stopped in her tracks, and reluctantly put off her sister's visiting to check on Ravenpaw.

"Briarlight! I'm confused, what am I supposed to do right now?" his amber eyes betrayed confusion, and he shuffled his paws in awkwardness.

But, Briarlight could see the tiredness in his eyes, and the pain of walking so far in his legs. "I suppose you would want to get some rest?" She lifted her eyes to meet his.

"Well, yes, I AM tired..." he swept his tail over the ground in desperation for the right words. "But I know that I could be of some use!"

Briarlight knew she wasn't supposed to be giving orders, but this cat seemed desperate for something to do.

Before Briarlight could make a decision, Ravenpaw turned away. "That's fine, I don't want to make you choose. I'll just go lay down." He padded over to his makeshift nest by the warriors' den and curled up, his tail over his nose.

Yowls woke Briarlight later on. It was near moonhigh now. She had been sleeping in her nest.

_The warriors are back! _she thought with excitment. _I hope they won._

Briarlight crawled out of her nest, and out into the moonlight-filled clearing. Bramblestar and Squirrelflight charged through the camp entrance as soon as Briarlight took a step out of the medicine den.

The rest of the ThunderClan battle patrol pushed through after them. Briarlight was just about to head over to Bumblestripe, who had gone with, and ask how it turned out, when the whole patrol whipped around and made a large defensive line in the middle of the camp. Briarlight's fur prickled as yowls from farther out into the dark forest sounded across the starry sky.

The moon was almost full, and it brightened up the clearing filled with cats.

Daisy peered out of the Nursery as Bramblestar and Squirrelflight stood side by side silently, waiting as the calls of terror got louder and louder. Blossomfall's kits' voices could be heard crying because of the tension that filled the air.

All of the sudden, more cats burst from the camp entrance, leaping into battle on signal. Briarlight knew what to do now. No more rushing into battle like some half-blind kit; she was needed more in the medicine den.

The dark brown she-cat turned around and woke Jayfeather and Tigerpaw, who had been resting up. For some reason they'd been in such a deep sleep they hadn't heard the rest of ThunderClan return.

Briarlight told them what was happening, and then got to work on what she needed to do. She kept Tigerpaw in the back of the den. She gathered up some extra moss in the nests, and made a good barrier in the bramble screen entrance. Tigerpaw watched with wide amber eyes as Jayfeather and Briarlight built a strong barrier. All of the sudden, cats started to claw at the bramble screen.

Briarlight drew back, hoping to StarClan that their barrier would hold against WindClan and RiverClan. Jayfeather hissed and jumped up to the edge of the brambles. "Get back, scoundrels!" he lashed his tail, unsheathed his foreclaws, and stuck one claw through the brambles to jab into the shoulder of an attacking cat that smelled of the river. The cat shrieked, and hopped away from the medicine den.

Jayfeather kept using his method of jabbing cats with his claws, until one RiverClan cat got the hang of it. "Ow! Mouse brain!" Jayfeather hissed as the cat yanked his claw as it flew through the barrier.

"Ha! You really think your stupid claw is going to keep US out? Think again, medicine cat!" Briarlight gasped as a light gray tabby tom plowed through their makeshift barrier of moss and loose bramble tendrils.

Jayfeather immediatly started lashing out blindly with his teeth and chomping on any fur that came near him.

Briarlight tried to lift a paw to help, but she lost her balance every time she raised a foreclaw. She collapsed on the ground, now a few more cats were trying to squeeze their way into the den. Jayfeather was almost defeated with the light gray tabby.

Tigerpaw cowered in the back. Briarlight tried to pick herself up.

"T-Tigerpaw! Help us!" the little dark brown tabby gulped and took a few paces toward where Briarlight lay.

"What do I do?" he asked timidly.

"It doesn't matter!" Briarlight gasped as she put all of her energy into pulling herself up off the ground. "Just help Jayfeather! He can't hold off Mintfur for long!" The light gray tabby's scent was now distinguishable. Tigerpaw jumped over Briarlight as she got up. The apprentice unsheathed his claws and clumsily landed some blows on Mintfur's shoulder. Jayfeather looked relieved as his apprentice joined in the fight.

Briarlight dragged herself to the back of the medicine den. She quickly gathered up all of the herbs, and shoved them into the little cave where Jayfeather's nest was. She grabbed more moss from her nest and Tigerpaw's nest, and buried the herbs underneath it. _All of those precious herbs, crinkled and rummaged now! NO! I cannot think about that, it's better than they be torn apart. Even with newleaf coming soon, we can't just throw away those herbs!_

Briarlight returned to the main part of the den to see Tigerpaw alone, peering through the torn up bramble screen. Briarlight appeared next to him. "Where's Jayfeather?"

Tigerpaw glanced at her, and flicked his tail outside. Briarlight suddenly noticed that the camp had gone almost completely silent while she was hiding the herbs. Briarlight warily pushed aside their moss barrier, and saw that ThunderClan was gathered around in a circle, the WindClan and RiverClan cats standing aside, wide-eyed with terror.

Bramblestar stood in the center, facing Mistystar and Onestar. "Look at what has happened!" Bramblestar lowered his gaze. Briarlight tried to look through the crowd to see what the sudden pause in fighting was all about.

Nothing looked wrong to her. What happened?

Mistystar looked down sorrowfully. "Bramblestar, I-I'm sure he didn't mean-"

"Of course he didn't!" Onestar interrupted his ally. The brown tabby lashed his tail and took a step toward Bramblestar. "It was not his fault!" The dark brown tabby's amber eyes flared from where Briarlight was standing.

"Then who's was it?!" The ThunderClan leader was furious. Briarlight moved closer to her Clanmates. Sorreltail stood behind Bramblestar, watching at an un-seeable patch of grass on the ground that the Clans were too crowded around.

"Sorreltail!" Briarlight whispered as she stood next to the tortoiseshell and white she-cat. "What's all this about?"

When her amber eyes came to rest on Briarlight, she was astounded to see an unmoving sadness in their depths. The she-cat pointed with her tail, through the ThunderClan cats, to the patch of grass.

Briarlight still couldn't see. She hissed silently with frusteration and stood up as tall as she could. She just could see a glance of blood-stained fur. She pulled herself back down. "Oh my..." Briarlight turned around, and padded over to the Nursery, where she could hear some cat whining in pain and grief.

She pushed through, and saw Blossomfall cowering in the corner of her nest, Daisy caressing her and murmuring soft words to Briarlight's sister. "Blossomfall?" she meowed and padded slowly to her grief-stricken sister.

Briarlight stood next to Daisy. The long-furred she-cat looked up at Briarlight. "Haven't you heard?!" Daisy's tone made Briarlight wince. _Just tell me what's happened!_

"No. I was protecting the medicine den with Tigerpaw and Jayfeather. What's all that about out there?" she asked meaningfully. She wanted an answer.

Blossomfall threw herself up and faced Briarlight with fierce sadness. "Look! Just look and you'll... see just what happened!" the tortoiseshell and white queen fell back into her nest, where Daisy continued with her soft whispers.

Briarlight followed where Blossomfall had told her to look, and saw her litter of squirming kits. There were only four little bundles in the nest. _Let's see: there's the tortoiseshell, Cloverkit. Lightningkit, with that ginger and white pelt he's hard to miss. There's Aspenkit, with that pretty short cream fur, and that cute little black and white kit, Thrushkit. _

That looked like them all to Briarlight! _But... wait... Blossomfall had five kits! Not four... Smokekit! _Briarlight almost fell backwards with shock. The little pale gray tabby tom... the tiny survivor! Everyone had such high hopes for Smokekit... they thought that because he survived the hardest birth of the litter, that he would become the strongest warrior of them all!

How could this have happened?

Briarlight nodded to Daisy and Blossomfall, and padded out into the clearing. Most of the RiverClan cats were leaving, but Bramblestar and Onestar were having a heating conversation in the corner of the camp. ThunderClan was cleaning themselves, and getting treated by Jayfeather. WindClan were murmuring to each other in the far corner of the camp.

Briarlight's green eyes finally got a look at little Smokekit. He didn't even look like a kit anymore: his pale gray tabby coat was completely ripped to shreds, and his eyes were gone... white and gone.

Briarlight couldn't stand to look. She turned away, and saw Graystripe and Sandstorm padding across the clearing to the half-kit. Briarlight looked around the clearing. It all looked so fuzzy.

Her heart felt heavy with grief. She didn't even have the strength to help Jayfeather cure the ThunderClan cats.

The gray tabby medicine cat was treating Dewpaw on the other side of the clearing. The gray apprentice looked tough and grown-up. Ready to become a warrior. Briarlight would make sure Bramblestar knew that their apprenticeship was completed. Amberpaw and Snowpaw too.

Briarlight settled down in the cool night air. The moon no longer seemed bright, and the sky no longer seemed filled with stars. Briarlight lay down, head on her paws, and tried to think of all of the things Smokekit could've done when he was older. An apprentice, and then a warrior. That poor little kit...

_Who did this? _

Briarlight raised her head again. She looked around the clearing, and then noticed that Bumblestripe had settled down next to her. "Briarlight..." he mumbled.

She nodded. "Bumblestripe." she acknowled her brother. "Did you get the full story of what happened yet?" the pale gray and black-striped tom asked. Briarlight shook her head. "I was just wondering it myself."

Bumblestripe leaned toward her. "That young warrior over there... the WindClan cat." he flicked his tail at a grayish blue tom. Briarlight felt dumb with shock. It was Bluepaw! That stupid little apprentice that made fun of her a few moons ago when she was gathering goldenrod for Jayfeather! _When Foxleap was still here..._

The tom was much bigger than when Briarlight had seen him last. He looked full-grown now. His blueish gray fur shone brightly in the sharp moonlight. His eyes were full of sadness, although he also looked embarrased, and none of his Clanmates were talking to him.

Briarlight also saw the other apprentice, Bluepaw's brother as she had found out. She didn't know his name though. He looked almost full-grown too. His dark gray tabby coat was even more shiny than Bluepaw's.

Briarlight felt anger at the cat that had caused her Clan trouble yet again. Bumblestripe continued," Him. He was trying to raid the Nursery. Blossomfall was trying to defend her kits from him, but I guess he grabbed Smokekit with his claw, and the kit went tumbling out of the Nursery. Rumor has it that the cat wasn't trying to hurt the kit, just frighten Blossomfall. The whole Smokekit thing was an accident!" Bumblestripe's neck fur started to fluff up in anger.

Briarlight was trying to imagine all of it happening.

"Then the warrior stumbled backward, and got shoved by some other cat, lashed out at the cat who shoved him, and tore up Smokekit instead." Briarlight stared at her brother in disbelief.

"How could anyone in the right mind mistake a small kit for a full-grown warrior?!" she mewed. Bumblestripe got to his paws.

"I have no idea... some mouse-brain he must be." _You have no idea, Bumblestripe. _

As Bumblestripe padded away, Briarlight stared directly at Bluepaw. The warrior looked around; unknowing that his old nemesis was staring right at him. Briarlight stared until her eyes hurt, blinked, and gazed harshly yet again.

Finally, Bluepaw locked gazes with Briarlight. She didn't stop, and let her eyes bore into him.

He froze in panic. He knew who she was and what he'd done.


	17. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER 16:**

Briarlight watched as Bluepaw rose to his paws uncomfortably. WindClan was leaving.

Onestar cast one last glance at Bramblestar, and then led his Clan out of the ThunderClan camp. The dark brown tabby leader watched him until the last WindClan warrior had stepped out of their camp.

Briarlight felt a throbbing pain coarse through her belly. She heaved, and felt another wave of pain. _The kits are coming, _she realized.

Thoughts of panic raced through Briarlight's mind. _No! Not now! StarClan, why now? Isn't a battle enough for one day? _

Briarlight dragged herself over to Jayfeather, trying to hide her pain from her Clanmates. The gray tabby medicine cat sensed her coming at once, and nodded to her. "Go!" he called, not noticing a few suspicious glances from the warriors and apprentices he was treating.

Briarlight felt a stab of embarrasment, but pushed it aside as she raced out of camp. Another ripple of pain passed through Briarlight's belly as she desperately looked for the dip in the earth under a holly bush that she and Jayfeather had picked out a moon ago. They'd stored herbs in the ground, just in case she didn't have time to gather any before the kits came.

Nearing the lake border, Briarlight began to panic. _Where's that stupid bush?! _She looked around, her searching eyes scanning every bush and tree. All of the sudden, in the midst of locating her holly bush, a fierce ripple passed, making Briarlight's forepaws fall limp, sending her crashing through the sloping undergrowth.

Briarlight tumbled head over tail, until she hit a gnarled tree root from the ancient oak. The world spun, it took a minute to regain consciousness. The dark night sky was overhead, and the whole forest was silent except for the faint sound of crickets chirping in the distant woods by the camp.

The cold tree roots strangely cuddled her back fur as she lay on her side. The cold lumps of wood felt like paws, protecting her and keeping her safe from any danger, even though Briarlight knew the battle must've scared off every fox, badger, or dog for at least three territories!

Her eyes slowly closed, and the deep, dark blue night sky slowly turned to a pale pinkish gold.

Briarlight took deep breaths. The sun was coming up, and it was over. She could feel the newborn kits next to her. Briarlight heaved a long breath, and slowly pulled herself up. Birds chirped with loud enthusiasm at the warm newleaf day to come.

Briarlight quickly popped the sacs around her three new kits. Two toms and a she-kit. The she-kit kept quiet, and huddled into the corner of Briarlight's belly, suckling quietly while her brothers meowed and slowly found their way to the milk.

The she-kit was a pretty brown tabby. The first tom was gray with fur that pricked at the ends. Briarlight purred as her little gray-colored son curled his tail around his haunches and cuddled into her fur.

The other tom was smaller, and his pelt was soft and black with just visible tabby stripes. Briarlight watched with pride as her three kits suckled quietly without a sound.

It was nearly sunhigh when Briarlight rose to her paws. It was time to return to camp. _What will I say? Jayfeather will understand, but the rest of the Clan... oh! _She looked at her newborns with admiration. She'd already named them too. The brown tabby she-kit was Petalkit, the spiky furred gray tom was Smokekit, and the black tabby tom was Nightkit.

Their eyes were already starting to open. Petalkit blinked at the world around her with bright enthusiasm. Smokekit, who'd been named after Blossomfall's dead son, was looking around with sharp green eyes. Nightkit was just starting to open his eyes. He repeatedly blinked, getting used to all of the bright lights.

Briarlight picked up all three kits, trying to balance all of them at once. Nightkit and Petalkit didn't seem to mind, but Smokekit wrigged uncormfortably in the middle of his brother and sister and mewed heart-breaking squeals. Briarlight did her best to ignore them as she dragged herself through the forest to ThunderClan's camp. She made sure she constantly checked for sounds of cats moving through the undergrowth around her.

There were no signs of her Clanmates as Briarlight reached the camp entrance. She set them down, and anxiously covered them with strands of weed and flowers. She had to go get Jayfeather to help her get them through the camp without anyone seeing.

Briarlight padded into the clearing, trying to look casual. Squirrelflight was just jumping off of the sunning rock, and supervised the warriors as the sunhigh patrol gathered around her. _She must be leading, _Briarlight thought as she watched Seedbriar, Dovewing, and Mousewhisker talk together at the edge of the clearing.

She headed over to the medicine den, and found Jayfeather sorting herbs in the back. "Jayfeather!" she meowed as she stumbled through the den. Jayfeather's ears pricked, and he turned his head at her voice.

"Briarlight?" his confusion didn't last long. "How did it go? Are the kits alright? Where are they? Are you okay? How many? How-"

"They're fine! I'm fine!" she cut him off mid-question. Jayfeather cocked his head to one side. "Did you find the holly bush?"

Briarlight sighed. "No. I couldn't find it..." she lowered her head. "Well, did you find a good place anyway? With plenty of herbs and grass to hide your scent?"

Briarlight's ears flicked. "I was looking for the bush, and I fell down a hill, and right into some tree roots of the Ancient Oak." she looked around confusingly for a second. "In fact, I didn't need herbs at all, I guess! Thinking about it now, I didn't even use any."

She expected Jayfeather to be angry at her for wasting all of the precious herbs they had stored just for her under that holly bush, but instead his sightless eyes betrayed joyfulness. "I'm so happy for you, for us!" he stepped forward and nuzzled her affectionetly. The angry, exasperating, grumpy Jayfeather he usually was seemed like forever ago.

Briarlight quickly pulled her head away, remembering what she needed to ask him. "Jayfeather, I-I know we can't keep our kits, right?" she almost didn't want to hear the answer.

"No. No, we can't. The Clan would eventually figure it out. You know what happened with Yellowfang way back in the old forest. We can't let that happen." he murmured half to himself.

Briarlight stared at him for a few moments, waiting to see what he thought they should do. "I don't know!" he snapped, sitting down, his claws sliding in and out. Briarlight started to turn around. "Well, we can figure that out later. You should see them. I'll bring them in here." she padded out of the medicine den without hearing another word from her mate.

When she returned, shoving the kits lightly from behind, Jayfeather pricked his ears. It was just pure luck that no cats had been in the clearing at the moment she brought the kits to the den.

Smokekit, Petalkit, and Nightkit were all sleepy and tired. Petalkit yawned, and Nightkit's paws dragged across the ground. Smokekit's tiny new eyes drooped and his little tail was being tugged across the dirt ground.

Briarlight then realized that Jayfeather wouldn't get to see their kits. He wouldn't ever get to see them! She felt a pang of loss as she pushed her kits in front of their father.

Jayfeather's blind blue eyes moved from kit to kit as he scented them. "Who're you?" Nightkit mewed. Briarlight sat down behind them. "This is your father, Jayfeather." she warily checked behind her to make sure no other Clan cats saw what was going on in the medicine den.

Smokekit seemed to wake up after seeing the gray tabby cat in front of him. "You're my father?..." he asked in disbelief. Jayfeather nodded. "I am, little one!" he purred with delight, even though he couldn't even see what was in front of his own paws.

He turned to Briarlight. "What do they look like?"

Briarlight turned her attention to Smokekit. "Well, the one that just spoke to you is your little son, Smokekit. He's got gray fur, just like you, but his is spiked at the end!" she let out a purr of happiness. "He reminds me of a little thornbush."

Smokekit turned around and play-growled. "I'll show you who's a thornbush!" he hopped onto Briarlight's forepaw and clung on with tiny claws. Briarlight purred and shook him off. "That's enough, Smokekit."

Jayfeather's gaze drifted from Briarlight to the scent of Petalkit. "Who's this pretty little she-kit?" he asked. "That's Petalkit. She's a brown tabby." she nodded to the last little kit. "And that's Nightkit. He's a black tabby. You have two sons and a daughter."

Briarlight laid down and watched Smokekit, Petalkit, and Nightkit climb playfully over their father, who played along perfectly. Briarlight felt satisfaction flow through her. _Maybe we can make this work._


End file.
